Odisha may demand Rs 1,000 cr for Hudhud damage

The memorandum to Centre would contain the number of villages hit by the cyclone, the rainfall received by the affected districts

The Odisha government may demand an assistance of Rs 1000 crore from the Centre towards damage caused to different sectors by the very cyclonic storm Hudhud.“We are going to make an overall demand of Rs 1000 crore to the Centre. Preliminary assessment has suggested the damage to power distribution infrastructure alone at around Rs 300 crore. Huge devastation to power distribution equipment has been noted in the southern districts of Rayagada, Gajapati and Malkangiri”, said a highly placed official source.

The state government will send the memorandum to the Centre soon, detailing the damage from the cyclonic storm. The Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta K Mohapatra has urged all departments and district collectors to assess their damage from the cyclone and submit the same, latest by October 16.

The memorandum would contain the number of villages hit by the cyclone, the rainfall received by the affected districts, extent of damage caused to kutcha houses and damage caused to roads and power distribution infrastructure.The compilation would also indicate the quantum of agricultural input subsidy needed and also specify the funds available in the SDRF (State Disaster Response Fund) account.

The cyclonic storm Hudhud that struck the coast of Andhra Pradesh near Visakhapatnam on Sunday, has caused extensive damage to the power infrastructure in five districts of the state - Koraput, Malkangiri, Rayagada, Nabarangpur and Gajapati. More than 1,500 people are at work to restore power supply in the affected districts.

Around 600 electricity poles and 20 power transformers were damaged as squally winds uprooted trees. Transmission lines and grid sub-stations, however, have survived the cyclonic storm.

The state government had evacuated 2,47,829 people and shifted them to 2,197 safe shelters. The evacuated people have started returning to their homes except those whose houses have been severely damaged. Free kitchens have been provided to all the evacuated people in the shelters.

Preliminary estimates indicate damage to about 80,000 private dwelling houses most of which are mud and thatch dwellings. The damage to agricultural crops and industrial units in the MSME (micro, small & medium enterprises) sector is expected to be assessed in a couple of days.

According to the guidelines prepared by the disaster management division of the home ministry, the state government is required to submit a detailed memorandum indicating sector wise damage along with requirement of funds for immediate relief operations. The memorandum is to be submitted only when the state government, in the event of a severe disaster, has exhausted its resources for meeting relief expenditure from SDRF.

The National Disaster Response Force (NDRF) would supplement the SDRF in the wake of calamities of a severe nature.

While projecting its demand, the state government is to take into consideration funds available under various schemes having the component of disaster management like Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Act (MGNREGA), Sampoorna Grameen Rozgar Yojana (SGRY), Swarnajayanti Gram Swarozgar Yojana (SGSY), National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP), Indira Awaas Yojana (IAY) and National Crop Insurance Scheme.