Odisha seeks Rs 1,100 cr assistance from govt for damage caused by floods

Odisha on Thursday sought an assistance amounting to Rs 1,100 crore from the Centre as response support for the damage caused by floods in different parts of the state in August, an official said

The Odisha government on

Thursday sought an assistance amounting to Rs 1,100 crore from the Centre as response support for the damage caused by floods in different parts of the state in August, an official said.

The demand for assistance, based on preliminary assessment of damage to crops, houses and other properties, was placed before the six-member inter-ministerial central team which wound up its two-day visit to the state on Thursday, the official said.

The Central team, led by Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, Praveen Vashista, had a high-level wrap-up meeting chaired by Chief Secretary A K Tripathy after visiting several flood-hit areas of Bhadrak, Kendrapara, Jajpur and Puri districts since Wednesday for making an on the spot assessment of the damage caused by the deluge.

"The response support as requested would be about Rs 1,100 crore, while mitigation measures are being worked out and will be indicated in the final memorandum to be submitted by the state government," the official said.

About 2.25 lakh hectare of agriculture and cropland had suffered more than 33 per cent damage due to the floods, he said.

Similarly, about 1.20 lakh houses have suffered various degrees of damage because of the floods in different parts of the state.

The central team was also informed about the damage suffered by embankments, roads and public infrastructure due to the floods, he said.

During the meeting with the Central team, the chief secretary, special relief commissioner (SRC), P K Jena and secretaries of different departments showed a detailed presentation of damage caused by the floods as well as response and relief measures undertaken by the government.

The presentation also gave a detailed account of the various steps taken for evacuation of people from vulnerable areas to safer places.

The Central team members appreciated the efforts of the state government and also agreed to the suggestion to consider supporting the state not only in response as per SDRF norms but also include mitigation measures like strengthening of embankments, construction of new embankments, disaster resilient housing support against damaged houses and other resilient infrastructure, he said.

They also appreciated the states approach to disaster management and new approach of seeking assistance from the Central government on mitigation measures, the official said.

During the meeting, the chief secretary highlighted the need for long term measures like robust embankments and resilient power infrastructure. He also informed the central team that heavy damage has been caused to agriculture and horticulture crops by the high floods in the last week of August.

The SRC said that the high flood took place in five major river systems Subarnarekha, Baitarani, Brahmani, Budhabalanga and Mahanadi and a slew of advance preventive measures, including round the clock patrolling on vulnerable embankments, were taken by the state government, while over 1.73 lakh people were evacuated to safe shelters.

Around 13.87 lakh people in 6,066 villages of 19 districts were affected by the flood, while crops in around 3.11 lakh hectare were affected, he said.

The Central team, which included members from the ministries of Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare, Water Resources, Road Transport and Highways, Rural Development and Finance, toured several flood-affected areas of Bhadrak and Kendrapara districts on Wednesday soon after it arrived here.

Divided into two groups, its members visited different flood affected areas of Jajpur and Puri districts on Thursday before attending the wrap up meeting here.

The state government had requested the Centre to send a team to make an assessment of the damage caused by the flood in different districts.