Cyclone Nisarga: Central team set to survey losses

Amid a visit by the Central team, the state government is expected to soon submit a memorandum to the Centre for relief for the Cyclone Nisarga-hit coastal districts, including Raigad and Ratnagiri.

Agriculture and horticulture crops on more than 30,000 hectares have been damaged in Raigad and Ratnagiri, where spot assessment is still being carried out.

The Central team, led by joint secretary and advisor of National Disaster Management Authority Ramesh Kumar Ganta, comprises five other senior bureaucrats from various other departments. The team arrived in Mumbai on Monday evening and will visit Chaul, Diveagar and Kashid in Raigad on Tuesday and seven villages in Mandangad and Dapoli tehsils of Ratnagiri on Wednesday. They will hold meetings with district collectors during their visits. After its study, the team will submit its report to the Centre.

Officials of the relief and rehabilitation department, which has prepared the memorandum, is expected to meet the Central team on Thursday. “We have prepared a memorandum for Central assistance. The final data on losses to crops, houses and livestock is yet to be accumulated. During our meeting, we may submit preliminary estimates,” said an official from the department.

According to the preliminary estimates, in Raigad alone, 1.63 lakh houses have sustained damage, of which 3,120 pucca-kutcha houses have completely collapsed. Perennial crops, including mangoes, chikoos, betel nuts, on more than 22,000 hectares have been destroyed. In Ratnagiri, horticulture crop on 5,500 hectares and 40,000 houses have been damaged.

Government structures, including schools and primary health centres, too, have collapsed. Electricity connectivity in hundreds of villages in Raigad is still disrupted. The Raigad district collectorate said that 85% of connections affected in cyclone have been restored. Raigad district collector Nidhi Chaudhari said, “We restored mobile connectivity in 24 hours and road connectivity in 72 hours. About 2 lakh of 6.5 lakh people are still without electricity, but it will be restored soon. More than 2 lakh trees have fallen and actual losses are worth more than ₹450 crore. Spot assessment of the damages to the houses and crop losses is expected to be completed now.”

The state has already announced ₹100-crore relief for Raigad, ₹75 crore for Ratnagiri and ₹25 crore for Sindhudurg for repair of houses and infrastructure. The state has also tweaked the existing norms for the ex-gratia for losses to crops and houses. The ex-gratia for losses to trees has been increased to ₹50,000 from ₹18,000 per hectare, while the relief for partial loss of the houses has been increased to ₹15,000 from ₹6,000 and ₹1.5 lakh for fully damaged houses from earlier norms of ₹95,100.