Bhubaneswar: The state government Thursday sought Rs 1,100 crore assistance from the Centre for carry-out response support in the wake of recent floods.
Senior state government officers raised this demand before the Central team, which visited state to assess damages caused due to the flood in August this year.
Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Pradeep Kumar Jena said that the state government has requested about Rs 1,100 crore as response support. The mitigation measures are being worked out and will be indicated in the final memorandum, he said.
During the meeting, the state government has made a detailed presentation of damage, response, relief, evacuation etc.
The central team appreciated the efforts of the state government and also agreed to the suggestion to consider supporting the state not only in response as per State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) norm, but also include mitigation measures like strengthening of embankments, construction of new embankments, disaster resilient housing support against damaged houses and other resilient infrastructure.
They also appreciated state’s approach to disaster management and new approach of seeking assistance from Central government on mitigation measures, Jena said.
About 25.80 lakh people in 135 blocks and 21 urban local bodies (ULBs) of 18 districts have been affected due to heavy rainfall and subsequent flood last month.
About 2.25 lakh hectares of agriculture and crop land have suffered more than 33 per cent damage in the flood. Similarly, about 1,20,000 houses have damaged due to the calamity. Besides embankments, roads, public infrastructure has also been damaged, sources said.