Cyclone Fani-ravaged Odisha seeks ₹17,000 crore central assistance

  • Modi conducts aerial survey to gauge extent of damage, announces another 1,000 crore interim relief
  • 6,000 schools, 300 higher educational institutions and 1,031 health facilities have been damaged

Prashant K. Nanda
Updated7 May 2019, 01:38 AM IST
PM Modi with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Monday.
PM Modi with Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik in Bhubaneswar on Monday.(PTI)

Odisha on Monday sought 17,000 crore in central assistance for rebuilding infrastructure and homes damaged by cyclone Fani, even as Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced an additional interim assistance of 1,000 crore.

“The CM said Odisha has set global standards in saving precious lives and needs to set global standards in making Odisha disaster-proof. He sought 10,000 cr for disaster-resilient power infra, and 7,000 cr for converting five lakh kutcha houses to pucca and setting up a disaster-resilient telecom network,” the Odisha chief minister’s office tweeted after Modi’s visit.

On Monday, Modi undertook an aerial survey of the affected areas and lauded chief minister Naveen Patnaik and other emergency service teams for successfully evacuating more than 1.2 million people in advance. He announced 1,000 crore interim funding to the state, in addition to the 341 crore the centre had released before India’s strongest summer time cyclone in 43 years made landfall on Friday. The cyclone destroyed infrastructure, houses, more than 6,000 educational institutions, mostly schools, and 1,000 health facilities, while laying waste to huge swathes of farmland.

Modi reviewed the relief and restoration measures being undertaken in the cyclone-affected areas. He lauded the state for doing a good job in curbing human casualties and stressed that there was “perfect coordination between the centre and state governments in the past seven-eight days”.

“We will work together on man, machinery and money requirements to deal with the situation,” Modi said after reviewing the situation along with the governor Ganeshi Lal, Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan and chief secretary A.P. Padhi.

Modi also announced an amount of 200,000 ex-gratia to each of the families of those killed, and 50,000 to the injured. Odisha has officially declared 34 deaths, though unconfirmed reports put the toll at 45.

The Odisha special relief commissioner in an initial estimate said that more than 10.7 million people in 11 coastal districts have been impacted by the cyclone. About 10,000km of road networks, 4,600 buildings, 980km of saline or river embankments have also been damaged, the state government said.

Around 2 million families are still reeling without power supply even as Odisha expects to restore 25% power supply in the state capital Bhubaneswar by Tuesday. The cyclone has damaged 5,030km of 33kV lines, 38,613km of 11kV lines, 11,077 distribution transformers, and nearly 80,000km of low tension distribution lines, said Odisha energy secretary Hemant Sharma.

The damage and death figures are likely to go up over the next 48 hours once all the coastal districts are assessed by officials. “The green cover of the capital city and Cuttack has gone by almost 50%. Lack of power supply is affecting life,” said Bhubaneswar resident Smarajit Nayak.

The Union government said it has asked insurance firms to settle claims faster. It also said rail services have returned to normal but that Puri will have access to trains only by 12 May because of damage to infrastructure.

Meanwhile, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N. Chandrababu Naidu offered to give 15 crore to the state as part of relief package. Patnaik had spoken to the Andhra CM to help provide manpower to rebuild the power infrastructure faster.


Catch all the Business News , Breaking News Events and Latest News Updates on Live Mint. Download The Mint News App to get Daily Market Updates.

MoreLess
First Published:7 May 2019, 01:38 AM IST
Business NewsNewsIndiaCyclone Fani-ravaged Odisha seeks ₹17,000 crore central assistance

Get Instant Loan up to ₹10 Lakh!

  • Employment Type

    Most Active Stocks

    Tata Steel share price

    147.55
    03:59 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    -3.35 (-2.22%)

    Tata Motors share price

    805.70
    03:58 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    -14.1 (-1.72%)

    Indian Hotels Company share price

    733.05
    03:51 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    49.45 (7.23%)

    Ashok Leyland share price

    222.00
    03:59 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    6.2 (2.87%)
    More Active Stocks

    Market Snapshot

    • Top Gainers
    • Top Losers
    • 52 Week High

    Aarti Industries share price

    474.75
    03:59 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    -40.3 (-7.82%)

    Signatureglobal India share price

    1,274.45
    03:29 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    -107.95 (-7.81%)

    Great Eastern Shipping Company share price

    1,200.50
    03:29 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    -90.45 (-7.01%)

    GMM Pfaudler share price

    1,282.90
    03:29 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    -92 (-6.69%)
    More from Top Losers

    Indian Hotels Company share price

    733.05
    03:51 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    49.45 (7.23%)

    Vijaya Diagnostic Centre share price

    1,098.90
    03:29 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    71.45 (6.95%)

    Motilal Oswal Financial Services share price

    996.05
    03:59 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    61.85 (6.62%)

    One 97 Communications share price

    848.15
    03:58 PM | 8 NOV 2024
    52.35 (6.58%)
    More from Top Gainers

    Recommended For You

      More Recommendations

      Gold Prices

      • 24K
      • 22K
      Bangalore
      79,375.00-110.00
      Chennai
      79,381.00-110.00
      Delhi
      79,533.00-110.00
      Kolkata
      79,385.00-110.00

      Fuel Price

      • Petrol
      • Diesel
      Bangalore
      102.92/L0.00
      Chennai
      100.80/L0.00
      Kolkata
      104.95/L0.00
      New Delhi
      94.77/L0.00

      Popular in News

        HomeMarketsPremiumInstant LoanMint Shorts