BHUBANESWAR: A seven-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team will be coming to Odisha on Thursday to assess the damage in cyclone Bulbul-affected districts in the state.
Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said Joint Secretary, Central Information Commission under Ministry of Home Affairs Saheli Ghosh Roy will lead the team comprising Chief Engineer in Ministry of Power Vandana Singhal, consultant in Department of Expenditure Deena Nath, Deputy Secretary in Ministry of Rural Development SS Modi, Superintending Engineer of Central Warehousing Corporation, Odisha, Amish Pal Sing, Director of DRD Agriculture in Patna Virendra Singh and senior official of Regional Office of Ministry of Road Transport in the State Sunil Kumar.
After a briefing by the SRC the team will leave for Bulbul-affected Bhadrak district and make a field visit in the afternoon.
On November 15, the team will visit Kendrapara and cyclone-affected areas. The team will return to Bhubaneswar in the afternoon and attend a meeting, to be chaired by Chief Secretary Asit Tripathy in the evening on the same day.
As per the State Government’s report, cyclone Bulbul that passed along Odisha coast on November 9 wreaked havoc in six districts in the coastal and northern belt. Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore and Mayurbhanj were badly affected by the severe cyclonic storm, while Jajpur district was affected partially.
Preliminary report suggests that the cyclone damaged crops in three lakh hectares, which includes more than 33 per cent crop damage in over 2 lakh hectares land. Around 5,500 houses were also damaged in the storm. Around 16 lakh electric consumers were affected, while 653 piped water supply systems suffered break down due disruption in power supply.
The Centre will release aid to the State from National Disaster Relief Fund after the team submits its report.