'Cyclone Fani took 64 lives, damaged Rs 6643 cr worth public property in Odisha'

Bhubaneswar: While 64 people died, the total loss to public property caused by cyclone Fani which hit Odisha on May 3 has been estimated to be Rs 6643.63 crore, as per the final damage assessment report released by the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC).

As per the office of SRC, the total loss to public property (Rs 6643.63 crore) and requirement of fund for relief measures (Rs 2692.63 crore) has been estimated at Rs.9336 crores.

"Earlier, the preliminary report was prepared and submitted to the Central team which visited Odisha between May 12 and 15, 2019. Only after village to village assessment through various teams constituted by the District Collectors, the final assessment of damages and losses has been done," a release from the SRC office said.

As many as 1.6 crore people and 1.88 lakh hectare of crop areas were affected during the cyclone. Around 5, 56,761 houses have either been fully or severely or partially damaged. Over 2,650 large animals, 3,631 small animals and 53,26,905 poultry birds have been killed, the assessment report read.

However, keeping in view the norms of assistance under SDRF/ NDRF, an amount of Rs.5227.68 crores is required for undertaking relief and restoration measures.

“The State Government is seeking an assistance of Rs.5227.68 crores from National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) in order to meet the expenditure on account of the ongoing relief and restoration measures,” SRC release read.

As of now, an amount of Rs.1357.14 crores has been released by State Government to various districts and departments as a part of disaster response.