Odisha seeks Rs 1,100 crore central aid for flood damage

The floods hit nearly 14 lakh people from over 6,000 villages of 19 districts. These numbers were presented at a high-level meeting chaired by state Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy.

A central team, which was on a two-day visit to the state to assess the damage caused due to floods, agreed to consider supporting the state in terms of response as well as mitigation measures such as strengthening of infrastructure and properties.

The team, led by Praveen Vashista, Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs, visited flood-hit areas of Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jajpur and Puri. “In the meeting, we have emphasised that there is a need for long-term measures to mitigate such floods in the future, including strong embankments and power infrastructure. Our major areas of concern were damage to agricultural and horticulture crops apart from property damage,” a senior official said.

According to Special Relief Commissioner Pradeep Jena, high floods took place in five major systems of Subarnarekha, Baitarani, Brahmani, Budhabalanga and Mahanadi, necessitating relocation of over 1.73 lakh people.