Odisha CM to meet PM Modi regarding Cyclone Fani

Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik arrived here on Sunday to seek funds from the Centre for relief and restoration measures in the wake of Cyclone Fani.

"I will be meeting Prime Minister Narendra Modi mainly regarding the damage done by Cyclone Fani and the funds the Centre can give us for that," he told reporters.

Patnaik said, "I also have an appointment with the President and I will be attending the NITI Aayog meeting."

Cyclonic storm 'Fani' made landfall along the Odisha coast on May 3.

"The total loss to the public properties and requirement of funds for relief measures have been estimated at Rs. 9336.26 crore," a state government official said on June 6.

According to the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), different departments assessed the loss to public properties to be Rs.6643.63 crore, and an amount of Rs.2692.63 crore is required for relief measures for the affected people.

In this regard, the Odisha government has sought Rs.5227.68 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in order to meet the expenditure on the ongoing relief and restoration measures.

The state government said Rs.1357.14 crore has been released by it to various districts and departments towards disaster response.

A thorough assessment of the situation in 20,367 villages was made in the aftermath of the cyclone. As many as 1.6 crore people and 1.88 lakh hectares of crop areas were affected, it said.

"A total of 5,56,761 houses have either been fully or severely or partially damaged. 64 people lost their lives and 12 people received grievous injuries. 2650 large animals, 3631 small animals, and 53,26,905 poultry birds have been lost," it added.