Bhubaneswar: The state government Tuesday put together a preliminary report on damage caused by extremely severe cyclone Fani that hit coastal districts of the state May 3. The loss to public properties including expenses incurred on relief and response operations was estimated at `11,942.62 crore.
“After receiving preliminary damage assessment reports from various departments, we have prepared a preliminary report on the total damage caused to public properties due to cyclone Fani. The total damage was estimated at `11,942 crore of which `6,767 crore was estimated for relief and response exercises,” said a senior official from the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).
The figure will definitely go up as departments have not yet submitted their final damage assessment reports, the officer said, requesting anonymity. As per the preliminary report of SRC, state bore a total financial burden of `6,767.56 crore for relief and response works undertaken in the aftermath of the cyclone. The government estimate said that it bore a whopping `100 crore on evacuation of people in the affected areas. The government claimed that it had evacuated over 15 lakh people from 19 districts during the cyclone.
The government spent `25 crore for clearing debris, `1,000 crore for emergent relief and `2.56 crore for ex-gratia for loss of lives, `100 crore for temporary accommodation, food and medical care, `150 crore for providing emergency drinking water supply.
The SRC also estimated that it would distribute `5,000 crore as house building assistance, `190 crore for clothing and utensils and `200 crore as input subsidy to farmers.
Out of 29 departments that reported damage the highest `1159.80 crore was claimed by the energy department. Power infrastructure including 26 primary sub-stations, 33 KV line having a total length 6078 km, 11 KV line of a total length of 34,814 km and 12,042 distribution transformers were severely damaged.
The works department put its loss at `597.32 crore while the rural development department pegged it at ` 435.17 crore, housing & urban development department `524.34 crore and panchayati raj & drinking water department `587.03 crore. Agricultural infrastructure worth `102.30 crore was damaged by the cyclone, the report said.
Similarly, forest & environment department put its loss at `537.80 crore, of which infrastructure worth `78.30 crore was damaged. Uprooting of nine lakh trees inside forest area had a cost of `270 crore, uprooting of five lakh trees outside forest area cost `150 crore and destruction of 7.9 lakh plantation trees was worth `39.50 crore.
Under the industries department, Industrial Development Corporation of Odisha Limited (IDCOL) reported a loss of Rs 35.37 lakh while another state PSU- Odisha Industrial Infrastructure Development Corporation (IDCO) estimated its loss at Rs 152.33 crore.
School & mass education and higher education department first reported a loss of Rs10.94 crore and Rs 296 crore respectively. However, later the departments revised the losses to Rs 529.97 crore (higher education) and Rs 417.83 crore (S&ME). The revised figure has not been mentioned in the preliminary damage assessment report of SRC.
According to official sources, a total of Rs 1720.24 crore was made available to the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF), out of which Rs 444.45 crore has been utilised while the balance Rs 1275.79 crore is available with the SDRF now.
Biswa Bhusan Mohapatra, OP
