Cyclone Phailin: Patnaik seeks more central funds

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Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik Wednesday sought an additional Rs.1,000 crore advance from the central government for relief and restoration work in the areas affected by cyclone Phailin.

"I request you to release an advance of Rs.1000 crore over and above the corpus of Rs.523 crore available in the State Disaster Response Fund for 2013-14 for relief and restoration work of immediate nature," Patnaik wrote to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

"A detailed report in the form of a memorandum shall be presented after assessment of the damage," said the letter he sent Wednesday.

The very severe tropical cyclone in the Bay of Bengal struck Saturday night near Gopalpur in Ganjam district, about 180 km from the state capital Bhubaneswar.

It left a trail of destruction in the coastal districts. Heavy rain brought on by the cyclone triggered floods in Balasore, Mayurbhanj, Jajpur, Keonjhar and Bhadrak districts.

The cyclone affected at least one crore people while more than ten lakh people faced additional hardship when water from the major rivers and their tributaries submerged low-lying areas and entered habitations.

Thousands of people still remain stranded with their homes and livelihoods destroyed.