Central Aid to State for Hud Hud Reconstruction Work

BHUBANESWAR:Centre has decided to provide assistance to the State for post-Hud Hud reconstruction measures under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).

A decision to this effect was taken at the meeting of the high-level committee (HLC) presided by Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh at New Delhi on Friday. Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) PK Mohapatra, however, said quantum of the assistance will be known on Monday.

The State Government had submitted a memorandum to the Union Home Ministry demanding an assistance of Rs 777 crore for restoration and rehabilitation work in 22 districts affected by the cyclone.

The memorandum had sought assistance under different heads - repair of roads and bridges Rs 374.3 crore, restoration of power supply Rs 104.35 crore, agriculture input subsidy Rs 23.77 crore, repair of rural/urban drinking water system Rs 85.65 crore, repair of irrigation works Rs 80 crore, repair of community assets owned by panchayats Rs 44.6 crore and repair of primary school buildings Rs 37.95 crore.

An eight-member inter-ministerial Central team led by Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs (MHA) Gopal Krishan Dwivedi, had toured the affected districts on November 18 last year to assess the damage caused by Hud Hud which hit the State on October 12.

The HLC including Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley and Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh examined the memorandum based on the report submitted by the Central team.