BHUBANESWAR: The state government on Thursday demanded interim assistance of `500 crore from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) for the post cyclone restoration measures in the affected areas.
The demand was made in a letter chief minister Naveen Patnaik wrote to Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Cyclone Hudhud which passed the state on October 12 caused extensive damage to infrastructure, agriculture and houses.
The cyclone which affected eight districts damaged more than 80,000 houses and caused extensive damage in the power sector. Over 2.47 lakh people were evacuated to safer places. The Chief Minister said the state government would submit a memorandum to the Centre after completion of a final estimate of the damages.
“However, my government ensured adequate preparedness in due time as a result the casualty could be restricted to three, out of which two were in a boat accident during the evacuation process,” Naveen said in his letter. Stating that the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) corpus of the state government is almost empty in 2014-15, the Chief Minister said 107 crore was allotted in advance and spent for Phailin related expenditure last year.