Rs 423 crore will be released in online mode by this evening to the districts affected by Cyclone Dana :Suresh Pujari

Bhubaneswar:6/11/24: Around Rs 423 crore will be released in online mode by this evening to the districts affected by Cyclone Dana and subsequent floods, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari informed on Wednesday.

“The collectors have been asked to distribute the compensation amount to those affected within seven days in online mode,” he told a presser. The departments, that incurred losses, will also receive ‘admissible’ financial assistance by evening, he said, adding that they have also received a damage report from the Water Resources Department.

This came a day after the Minister pegged the total damage caused in the state due to the severe cyclonic storm at Rs 616.19 crore. The cyclone, which struck the eastern coast in the early hours of October 25, triggered torrential rain and high-speed winds uprooting trees and electric poles and causing significant damage to infrastructure and crops.

Over 41.04 lakh people of 131 blocks in 14 districts – Angul, Balasore, Bhadrak, Cuttack, Dhenkanal, Ganjam, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, Kendrapara, Keonjhar, Mayurbhanj, Nayagarh, Khurda, and Puri – were either partially or fully affected by the cyclone and subsequent heavy rainfall and floods.

He further stated that 16,417 houses estimated at around Rs 21.31 crore were also damaged by the cyclone. “Compensation will be provided to people, whose houses were partially or completely damaged. In the latter case, houses will be provided under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana (PMAY),” he maintained. The Mohan Majhi has spent over Rs 23.73 crore for relief and restoration measures for the cyclone, he said, adding that that compensation will provided to those affected without waiting for central assistance. The government is likely to submit a memorandum to the Centre for financial assistance to undertake restoration measures, sources said.