Hit by the twin calamities of cyclone Phailin and resultant floods, the Odisha Government today sought immediate release of Rs 1,523 crore to expedite relief and restoration works in the affected areas.

The demand was made by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh.

“In order to take up relief and restoration work of an immediate nature, I would request you to release an advance of Rs 1,000 crore over and above the corpus of Rs 523 crore available in the State Disaster Response Fund for the year 2013-14,” Patnaik said in his letter.

Noting that this would help the State Government in meeting the immediate requirement for relief and restoration work, Patnaik said a detailed report in the form of a memorandum will be presented soon after assessment of the damage.

“An early response in the matter will be highly appreciated,” Patnaik said in the letter.

Highlighting the “extensive” damage caused to the power systems in Ganjam district which alone will require Rs 900 crore to be fully restored, the Chief Minister said a major grid station has been devastated. Electrical infrastructure right from extra tension to the consumer level has been severely damaged throughout the district.

“This requires immediate restoration for which I have already sought the support of the Government of India, particularly the PSUs under the Ministry of Power such as PGCIL, NTPC and NHPC,” Patnaik said.

Initial reports indicated that almost 4 lakh kuchha and semi-pucca houses were completely or partially damaged as a result of the cyclone and floods, Patnaik said, pointing out that immediate assistance was required to repair the dwelling units.

“Since flood water is yet to recede, we have not yet assessed the full damage to the standing crop but the damage is quite extensive covering over 6 lakh hectare as per our initial reports,” Patnaik said.

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