Orissa seeks Rs 2382.43 crores flood damage

Bhubaneswar, Sept 16: Orissa today submitted a final memorandum to the Union Home Ministry projecting a total damage of Rs.2382.43 crores in the series of floods that battered 27 of the 30 districts in the state since July.

The state government had earlier submitted three preliminary reports to the Union Home Ministry with the note that the damages in the flood would rise as there had been more floods in late August and first week of September.

The government had appealed to the Centre to provide funds to undertake permanent measures to restore the damages caused due to floods, although the central team which visited the state in the first week of September had asked the government to repair the damages to bring them to pre-flood situation.

Special Relief Commission (SRC) office sources said in the work sector the damage had been to the tune of Rs.652 crores followed by Rs 535.93 crores in Water Resources, Rs 495 crores in Panchayat Raj and Rs 388.45 crores in Rural Development department.

This apart, the memorandum said, the Housing and Urban Development department had sustained a damage of Rs 145.12 crores and the Agriculture Department to the tune of Rs 63.44 crores.

The SRC had sought special assistance of Rs 53 crores towards the relief measures while the Energy Department estimated the damage at Rs 23.9 crores.

The floods had so far claimed 83 lives, affected crops over 6 lakhs hectares and damaged more than 1.5 lakhs houses in 27 districts.

The Prime Minister who visited the state last month had announced Rs.200 crores central assistance for the flood victims while Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced Rs.300 crores assistance from the state exchequer to undertake the major repair works and supply seeds to the affected farmers at a subsidised rate.

UNI