BHUBANESWAR: With the unrelenting heat wave leading to acute drinking water crisis across the State, the Rural Development Department has sought `25 crore from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF) for mitigation measures.
Sources in the department said the SRC office has accepted the proposal so that exigency situation arising out of the prevailing conditions can be tackled through provision for water supply in vulnerable pockets.
The SRC office, on its part, has asked the districts to remain in a state of readiness to handle the heat wave. Since heat wave has been declared as a state-specific disaster, affected people are eligible for relief as per the relief code. Earlier, similar relief was made available only in case of drought.
In case of sun stroke deaths, the kin of the victim is eligible for an ex gratia of `50,000 but in such cases post-mortem is compulsory.