**Bhubaneswar:** Odisha Government has sought a financial assistance of Rs 2014 crore towards cyclone relief from the Centre. While the losses from the cyclone has been assessed at Rs 2765 crore, the remaining Rs 751 crore will be borne by the State from the State Disaster Relief Fund (SDRF).
The SDRF is a resource available to the States to meet the expenses of relief operations of immediate nature, for a range of specified disasters. At any point, the state government has fair amount of funds available under the SDRF.
“Odisha, currently has Rs 1524 crore in the SDRF. Around 50% of this money, amounting to Rs 750 crore approximately will be allocated for relief and restoration of districts affected by cyclone Titli,” a senior State Government official said.
Earlier this year, the Centre had enhanced its contribution in the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) from 75% to 90% with effect from April 1.
Under the Disaster Management Act 2005, a financial mechanism has been set up by way of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) at national level and SDRF at the State level to meet the rescue and relief expenditure during any notified disasters.
On Thursday, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik wrote a letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi seeking Central assistance of Rs 2014, to be allocated to Odisha from the NDRF, for relief and restoration of Titli affected distrcts.
The Odisha government has reported damages to the tune of Rs 2,765 crore inflicted by cyclone Titli and subsequent floods. The natural disaster affected 60.11 lakh people. Apart from severe damage to infrastructure, the cyclone and floods have taken 57 lives.
