PM to take stock of cyclone, flood affected areas on November 2

Naveen reviews restoration work in Ganjam after aerial survey

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh will inspect the flood and cyclone affected areas on November 2 and will take stock of relief and restoration process there, according to a communication from the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) to the state chief minister.

An advance team has already arrived in the state capital to make security arrangements prior to his visit.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik today visited Ganjam district, the worst hit in recent cyclone and floods, to review the relief and restoration work undertaken there by various government departments. He discussed with government officials at Chhatrapur about how to bring back normalcy in the area soon.

“Our prime focus will be to restore normalcy, to tackle hygiene and power connection issues in Ganjam district,” Patnaik said after the meeting. He also asked the officers to expedite relief operations.

Patnaik along with state chief secretary Jugal Kishor Mohapatra conducted an aerial survey of flood affected areas of the district.

Ganjam district administration has estimated loss to crop and public properties at around Rs 5,852-crore due to twin disaster of cyclone (Rs 3,432-crore) and subsequent floods (Rs 2,420-crore).  

The coastal town of Gopalpur, where cyclone Phailin had its landfall, today received power supply after a gap of 19 days.

Meanwhile, the Inter Ministerial Committee of the Union government, today concluded its four-day visit to the state’s cyclone and flood affected areas to assess the losses and gather ground level information on the ongoing relief work. The team leader said, the panel will submit its report to the central government soon.

“We have verified everything. There was no complain from anybody about not receiving relief and other aids. The arrangement was good. We will try to submit the report as soon as possible,” said Rashmi Goyal, head of the inspecting team.

The report submitted by the team will be sent to the Empowered Group of Ministers, who will decide how much grant Odisha will get.

Earlier, during the visit of Union home secretary Anil Goswami, following the cyclone, the state government had submitted a memorandum demanding Rs 4,242 crore central assistance towards losses suffered in the tropical storm.

On the day, the Inter Ministerial Committee arrived on October 28, the state has submitted another memorandum seeking additional Rs 1,590 crore aid for damages in the floods triggered by low-pressure in the aftermath of cyclone.