Bhubaneswar, Oct 28 (Odisha.in) Orissa government has sought financial assistance to the tune of Rs.1094 crore from the centre to undertake the restoration work in the five flood affected districts as the Central team termed the damage “huge”.
” The damage wrought by the August-September last flood in five districts- Balasore, Bhadrakh, Mayurbhanj, Kendrapada and Jajpur was huge”, said Central Team leader Naveen Verma, Joint Secretary, union Home Ministry Saturday before their departure to New Delhi.
Verma said, the team would submit their assessment report to the Union Inter Ministerial Group within a week’s time for their appraisal and necessary recommendation to High Power committee headed by the union Agriculture Minister to take the final decision on the quantum assistance to Orissa.
At the same time, Verma did not forget to give a certificate to the state administration for their effort to mitigate the miseries of the flood affected people by providing immediate relief.
“The post calamity management was well and we had not received any complaint from the affected people “said Verma after meeting the Chief Minsiter Naveen Patnaik at State Secretariat in the evening.
Consequent upon the state government’s second memorandum last month urging the centre Rs.1094 core fianancial assistance out of the Natioanl Calamity Contingency Fund (NCCF) to undertake immediate restoration work in the five districts affected by the fourth phase of flood , the nine member Central team headed by Verma reached Bhubaneswar on October 25 and visited the areas in three groups on for two days.
The team members before leaving for Delhi met the Chief Secretary and other senior officials at a high-level meeting and later made a courtesy call to Chief Minister to “share their assessment of the flood damage”.
During the August-September floods, as many as 59 persons died and about 76900 houses were damaged besides the damage to the khariff crop in 1.97lakh hectres according to the memorandum.
Earlier, the state government had submitted a memorandum of estimated Rs.307 crore to centre for undertaking restoration work in the affected areas during the June-July floods. And taking the two memorandums, the state sought around Rs.1400 crore out of the NCCF as flood assistance.
But so fare centre had not so far released a single pie out of the NCCF to Orissa, lamented the Revenue Minister, Manmohan Samal.
The Chief Secretary Ajit Kumar Tripathy , during the meeting with the Central Team had requested for recommendation among others for allotment of additional 30,900 Indiara Awas for the BPL families lost their homes and houses in the flood affected areas, changing of the guidelines of NREGS to increase the existing minimum 100 days work
To 200 days and provision of rice to the beneficiaries in the flood areas, sanction of outstanding funds due to state out of the Calamity Relief Fund.
Odisha.in