Bhubaneswar: Releasing the ‘Cyclone FANI – Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment (DLNA) Report’ today at the State Secretariat here, Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik invited the international agencies, national NGOs, the private sector and the civil society to come forward and join in the recovery and reconstruction efforts to rebuild Odisha.
Gracing the special function, the Odisha Chief Minister in his keynote address said, “As you know Odisha managed the extremely severe cyclone FANI very effectively and efficiently. We undertook one of the biggest human evacuations in history with a record 1.5 million people being shifted in just 24 hours.”
Mentioning, “I am glad that the assessment team consisting of more than 100 multi-sectoral experts from World Bank, Asian Development Bank and the United Nations undertook a detailed assessment of the damage and the recovery needs across 15 sectors, in the aftermath of the cyclone,” the Chief Minister stated, “The damage assessment report would provide a way forward to recovery of the State from the cyclone as well as develop a better preparedness strategy for the future.”
“We invite the international agencies, national NGOs, the private sector and the civil society to come forward and join in the recovery and reconstruction efforts to rebuild Odisha,” exhorted the Odisha Chief Minister.
As per a press note released on the occasion, the extremely severe cyclonic storm FANI, which hit the coast of Odisha on 3rd May this year, was one of the rarest of rare summer cyclones, caused extensive damage and impacted life and property of more than 1.65 crore people in 14 districts of Odisha.
Post cyclone, the Government of Odisha under guidance of Government of India and in collaboration with the World Dank, Asian Development Bank and the United Nations undertook the Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment (DLNA) to support the cyclone recovery process,
The assessment was spanned over a period of 20 days comprising of a team of more than 100 multi-sectoral experts from the World Dank, ADB and various agencies of United Nations along with officials from several departments of the State Government, local NGOs and eminent experts.
The estimation of the damage and losses by the assessment team is based on the data available at the level of departments, and validation of the same by field visits to most affected districts. It estimates the total damage and loss to be INR 24,176 crore (US$ 3.4 billion) and recovery needs INR 29,315 crore (US$ 4.1 billion).
The infrastructure sectors were the hardest hit and constitute about 42% of the total needs and the social sectors which include housing, constitute 42% of the total needs.
The Damage and Loss Needs Assessment (DLNA) report provides an overview of the macroeconomic and human impact of the disaster and is a first step inwards laying recovery roadmap and achievement of a vision for disaster resilient Odisha. It proposes a recovery strategy built around three pillars: Resilient Housing, Resilient Infrastructure and Resilient Livelihoods.
Odisha has set global benchmarks in handling disasters by leveraging technology, strengthening institutional capacities and building resilient measures that helped it face this calamity of national magnitude.
DLNA was one of such initiatives which brought global best practices and knowledge for fostering ‘Built Back Better’ in the recovery efforts post cyclone ‘FANI’.
The DLNA will contribute significantly towards expediting the reconstruction and recovery processes in the State, stated the press note.
Among the prominent dignitaries present in the meeting were the United Nations Resident Coordinator in India Ms Renate Lok. Dessallien, the representatives of World Bank. ADB, UN and other organisations.
In her media reactions, United Nations Resident Coordinator in India Ms Renate Lok.Dessallien said, “Meeting today to launch today the damage and loss assessment from Cyclone FANI which as you know hit the shores of Odisha and created damage across the State. I would like to use this occasion to commend the Government for the extraordinary work they did in terms of preparing before the cyclone which managed to save many many lives. This is a very best practice because the strength of the cyclone was very extraordinary. Had the Government not taken this preparatory action, it would have been tremendous loss of life. 1.5 million people were moved into safety and that minimized the loss of life and we commend the Government for those efforts.”
“The purpose of today’s meeting was to put on the table the results of collobarative work between the Government of Odisha and the UN family including the World Bank and ADB to assess the damage and loss. While there were many lives saved, the extent of economic damage and social damage from the cyclone was immense. The estimated damage and loss is 4 billion US dollars. So we are now working with Government under the leadership to prioritize what need to be done next,” she stated further.
From the Government side, the Chief Secretary, the Special Relief Commissioner and Secretaries of various departments of the Slate Government and officials of the OSDMA and O/o SRC were also present in the meeting.
