Bhubaneswar: The death toll in cyclone Titli and subsequent floods in state rose to 61, with the state government confirming four more casualties here Saturday. The state has also sought Rs 1000 crore interim relief from Centre to meet the damage due to the twin calamities.
Speaking to reporters here after holding a review meeting, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said “So far 61 lives were lost in cyclone Titli-related incidents while 11 deaths including that of 3 Andhra fishermen are being verified at district level.”
Of the 61 deaths confirmed so far, three were fishermen from the neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. They died while fishing near Odisha coast and their bodies were recovered, he said.
On relief and restoration work in the calamity-hit districts, Padhi said the repair of all the roads, except in Sorada in Ganjam district and Daringbadi in Ganjam district, were completed.
He said the supply of drinking water to all urban areas and 570 out of a total of 650 villages in the 17 affected districts were restored. The damaged tubewells were repaired.
“Excluding Gajapati, 100 per cent power has been restored in all places. Out of 1.2 lakh consumers, 60,000 have received power back. By October 22, around 1 lakh consumers will get electricity supply,” said the chief secretary, adding the work had been slow for a few days as workers had taken a break during the holiday season.
The local administration has already starts 50 kg of rice distribution to each affected family in the worst hit Gajapati district. Financial assistance to the tune of Rs 11 crore was disbursed among the affected families in Gajapati district, while the process was in the final stage in Ganjam district, he added.
Each family in Gajapati district was being given 50 kg rice and Rs 1,000 in cash as relief, while the affected families in Ganjam got 25 kg of rice and Rs 2,000 cash.
Stating 57,000 houses were damaged in the natural disaster, he said the state government had sought sanction of houses under Pradham Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY).
Similarly, 2.7 lakh hectares of crop have been damaged and farmer-wise details is being collected. After receiving the details, input subsidy will be released, he added. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishnupada Sethi said the state will distribute nearly about Rs 270 crore as crop input subsidy to the farmers.
Friday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has written a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking an interim relief of Rs1,000 crore for relief and restoration work.
As per preliminary report, public and private properties worth Rs 2700 crore damaged due to the calamities. However, the state government had sought Rs1014.09 crore from National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF) as the remaining fund is available with the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF), sources said.
PNN