Flood havoc: Odisha demands assistance of Rs. 1,592 cr

The Odisha government on Monday submitted a supplementary memorandum to the Centre seeking an assistance of Rs. 1,590 crore for the second phase of flood in the state from October 21 to 26.

“The state government seeks an additional Central assistance of Rs. 1,590.09 crore out of NDRF to complete the process of relief and restoration measures on account of heavy rain and flood during October 21-26,” Special Relief Commissioner P.K. Mohapatra said.

The state government submitted the memorandum to the visiting inter-ministerial central team headed by Rashmi Goel.

Earlier, the state government had submitted a similar memorandum to Union Home Secretary Anil Goswami demanding Rs. 4,242.41 crore as central assistance for the damage caused due to cyclone Phailin and resultant floods.

Stating that the severe cyclonic storm Phailin that struck Odisha on October 12 caused extensive devastation in 18 out of 30 districts, the state government in its supplementary memo said incessant rain under the impact of cyclone also caused severe floods in northern Odisha.

“Before normalcy was restored, incessant rainfall from October 21 to 26 due to low pressure triggered yet another crisis, creating flood situations in Rusikulya, Vansadhara, Baitarani, Budhabalanga, Subarnarekha and other rivers affecting 13 districts,” it said.

The district affected in the second phase of flood were — Ganjam, Gajapati, Puri, Nayagarh, Khordha, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur, Kandhamal, Kendrapada, Jajpur, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj.

Continued heavy rain also severely hit relief operations in the areas which were affected by the severe cyclonic storm Phailin and floods following that. Lakhs of people were marooned and vast patches of agricultural land inundated due to the fresh downpour and floods, it said.

Agriculture lands have been sand cast due to floods/ flash floods, it said adding due to continued rainfall, houses of people and public infrastructure, especially roads and embankments, have been severely damaged.

Official figures show as many as 4,611 villages under 589 GPs of 68 blocks have been affected. Over 2.29 lakh people have been evacuated so far and provided cooked food or dry rations. At least 15 people have died in the second phase floods, the memorandum said.