Cyclone ‘FANI’: Odisha CM Naveen Patnaik seeks centre's support, writes to PM Modi

Bhubaneshwar: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday thanked the Union Government for the support rendered to the state of Odisha to effectively manage the Extremely Severe Cyclone ‘Foni’ and its aftermath.

In a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi, CM Patnaik said that the people of the affected districts have gone through immense hardship, the loss of shelter has been a devastating experience. The State Government is undertaking a detailed house damage assessment which would be completed shortly.

CM Patnaik also mentioned that the exact number of houses damaged completely or substantially will be arrived at after the survey. However, according to preliminary estimation, about 5 lakh houses have been completely or substantially damaged across 14 districts with the major loss occurring in Puri district.

“A presentation on the extent of damage was also made by the State Administration highlighting the dire need for building disaster resilient housing along the coastal belt of Odisha vulnerable to cyclonic storms,” said CM Patnaik in the letter.

CM Patnaik further requested the Prime Minister of India for sanctioning of 5 lakh Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – PMAY (G) houses initially for the state Odisha.

He further reiterated the State Government’s request for waiver of the Permanent Wait List (PWL) criterion for the particular allocation and also consider a Centre-State Fund sharing pattern of 90:10 as a special case.

“The rainy season is fast approaching and the monsoon is likely to reach Odisha around June 10. Therefore, keeping in view the urgency to provide pucca houses to the affected people, we are going ahead with issuing of work orders from June 1, 2019, in anticipation of the approval of our proposal by Government of India,” added CM Patnaik further.

As per reports, a total of 6,498 schools have been damaged in cyclone ‘FONI’ that ravaged 14 districts in Odisha on May 3.

As per initial reports, the School and Mass Education department in the state has assessed a loss of Rs 417.83 crore due to the cyclone, said Information and Public Relations secretary Sanjay Kumar Singh.

He informed that a maximum number of 2,134 schools were damaged in Puri district, which was the worst affected in the cyclonic storm. A total of 1,002 schools were damaged in Cuttack district, Singh added.

He further said that the Culture Department has assessed a loss of Rs 72 crore due to the damage caused to several institutions functioning under the department.

There has been damage of Rs 15 crore in the Sanskruti Bhawan and while the damage to the State Library has been estimated at Rs 3 crore.