The Centre has sanctioned Rs 918.30 crore as against the state’s demand of Rs 3265.38 crore for carrying out repair and restoration works in the areas of the state hit by two back-to-back devastating spells of floods in September.
“The Centre has sanctioned Rs 918.30 crore for the damage caused by two spells of flood. We had demanded Rs 3265.38 crore in two phases to the Centre”, said Pradipta K Mohapatra, Special Relief Commissioner.
He said out the total sum granted, Rs 908.30 crore will be received from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) and the balance Rs 10 crore from the National Rural Drinking Water Programme (NRDWP).
In addition, the Centre will also bear the expenses of the helicopters used for the purpose of air-dropping in flood hit areas that amounts to Rs three crore, for which the expense bills be sent to the Centre, he added.
Meanwhile, the state Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik has flayed the sanction of flood relief to the state and said that the move was politically motivated given the impending Panchayat polls in the state. The panchayat elections were to be held in five phases beginning February 13.
It may be noted that two spells of flood had wreaked havoc in the state in the month of September claiming more than 80 lives and affecting 21 districts.
The damage in the first flood was assessed at Rs 2020.91 crore and in the second spell of flood that hit 10 districts of the state, it was assessed at Rs 1144.46 crore. As many as 0.15 million houses have been damaged in this flood while the livestock casualty stood at 981.
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Puri and Kendrapara have been the worst hit districts.
The flood had ravaged 116000 houses which includes 37,435 houses in Kendrapara district and around 27,000 houses in Puri district.
It may be noted that a Central team led by O P Mahey, joint secretary, Union ministry of home affairs had also visited the state for assessing the damage caused by the flood in the state.