**Bhubaneswar:** Reviewing the measures taken by the State and District administrations following the landfall of severe cyclonic storm ‘Titli’ and the subsequent floods, a high-level State Executive Meeting under chairmanship of Chief Secretary AP Padhi was held here at the State Secretariat today that approved Rs 2,770 crores as total amount of damages and sanctioned money to several departments for restoration work.
Special Relief Commissioner Bishnuapada Sethi said, “The memorandum of Rs 2,770 crore of damages, that was presented after the natural calamity, was approved at the meeting today. All the funds that were distributed during the emergency were also approved.”
“The Collectors of Ganjam, Gajapati and Rayagada were given Rs 102 crore as the first installment of Gratuitous Relief distribution. That amount was approved too. At least Rs 375 crore will be given as relief. After the distribution of first installment, the rest amount will be sent to the bank accounts of the victims,” Sethi explained.
“An advance amount of Rs 27 crore was also sanctioned for the restoration work that is being done by the Energy Department. Rs 20 crore was sanctioned to Foods and Civil Supplies Department for dry foods. Similarly, Water Resources Department has received Rs 7 crore for repair work of lift irrigation point. Rs 50 crore for all restoration work by Works Department and Rs 55 crore for repair work by Rural Development Department was also sanctioned. Meanwhile, Panchayati Raj Department has been given Rs 624 crore for repair of roads, Anganwadi Centres, Primary Health Centres. Rs 2 crore was also given to the Veterinary Department for loss of livestock,” he added.
“Directions were also given to provide the Crop damage assessment report in two days. Personnel from some departments were shifted other departments where they were more needed at the time,” Sethi concluded.
In the meeting, the officials also discussed steps to make Odisha more disaster-resilient in terms the existing and new infrastructure. Amidst all these steps, southern Odisha slowly limps back to normalcy.
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