BHUBANESWAR: Crops cultivated on around 89,829 hectare agricultural land have been damaged while over 13.71 lakh people belonging to 2,855 villages in 154 blocks of 24 districts affected in the recent floods across the state, informed Revenue and Disaster Management minister Suresh Pujari on Wednesday.
Reviewing the post-flood restoration measures undertaken by the district administrations, Pujari said the state government has released an additional Rs 26 crore as financial assistance to the districts severely affected by the floods. With this, the allocation by the state government for relief and restoration measures has gone up to Rs 136 crore.
The minister said nearly 7.23 lakh people were shifted from low-lying areas to safer places during the floods. “Around 366 villages of the worst-hit Bhadrak, Balasore and Jajpur districts were marooned by the floodwaters. Besides 5,044 houses have been damaged for which the state government has started paying compensation. During the floods, 783 relief camps were opened in which over 7.26 lakh affected people had taken shelter,” he added.
Pujari further directed officials to ensure no affected person is left out. “If any affected families have been missed in the initial database, they should submit their details to their nearest gram panchayat, tehsil or BDO office, along with photographs of the damage,” he said. He added, keeping in view the severe impact of the floods on the farming community, a comprehensive package involving the Agriculture, Fisheries & Animal Resources and Cooperation departments is being finalised.