Cyclone Amphan: Odisha seeks Rs 20,000 Cr from Center for infrastructural restoration

In order to develop a disaster-resilient infrastructure and to restore the damage caused by Cyclone Amphan, the Odisha government has sought an estimated amount of Rs 20,000 crore from the Center.

A seven-member Central team had visited the state to assess the damage caused by the Cyclone Amphan. The team appreciated the preparedness, response, and disaster management skill of state in their meeting with Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy and other senior officers in the Lokseva Bhawan conference hall on Friday evening.

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Additional Chief Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena informed that a preliminary estimate of around Rs 20,000 crore is required for building resilient infrastructure to restore the damage caused by the Cyclone Amphan. Chief Secretary Tripathy said that the final memorandum would be sent regarding this within the next week.

Applauding the Odisha government for its preventive measures ahead of the cyclone, the team said that pre-positioning of manpower and machines in vulnerable areas, timely evacuation of people from low lying areas, and kutcha houses, and community involvement are the state's achievements in combating the disaster. The team also noted that electricity in remote areas was also restored within 24 to 72 hours.

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Aid in building cyclone resilient infrastructure

"Due to the geo-climatic location of Odisha and climate change impacts, cyclones are going to be a regular feature in summer, monsoon and post-monsoon months. So, we request the Government of India to support us for building cyclone resilient infrastructure than that of spending a huge amount each year towards immediate restoration and rehabilitation," Chief Secretary Tripathy said.

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The Additional Chief Secretary emphasised on the need for laying underground cable in urban areas, facilitating power transmission and distribution infrastructure in rural areas, building remote control GIS grid, raising the height of the saline embankments at least up to 6.5 meters above the sea level and converting 1.66 lakh kutcha houses to cyclone resilient pucca houses.

Development Commissioner Suresh Chandra Mohapatra along with Principal Secretaries and Secretaries of different departments took part in the discussions. The Central team visited Balasore, Bhadrakh, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara districts in two different groups.

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(With inputs from ANI)