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Bhubaneswar: The state government has sought central assistance of Rs 2,344.99 crore for 28 drought affected districts of the state.
Crop damage of 33 per cent or more occurred over 15,35,902 hectares in 29,176 villages of 3,832 gram panchayats and 412 wards under 55 urban local bodies in these 28 districts, according to the final drought assessment report submitted by the state government to the Centre Friday.
The crop loss was derived through crop-cutting experiments conducted under the provisions of the Orissa Relief Code. Around 20.27 lakh hectares cropped area have been affected by the drought this fiscal, according to the final report, which says that two districts —Jagatsinghpur and Malkangiri — have not been affected by drought.
An interim memorandum seeking central assistance of Rs 1,687.56 crore was submitted to the government of India November 23. An additional memorandum was also submitted December 2 seeking additional central assistance of Rs 511.507 crore.
“This final memorandum seeks consolidated central assistance of Rs 2,344.99 crore under different heads to tackle the drought situation in the state. This is around
`145 crore more than aid sought in previous reports. The state government requests early release of the fund,” said special relief commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra.
The Centre recently sanctioned Rs 815crore to the state towards drought aid from the National Disaster Relief Fund.
