Industry Odisha Bureau, Sep 30: The Odisha government has so far disbursed a total of Rs 241.37crore as compensation to people affected by the floods, informed Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari here on Wednesday.
Pujari held a high-level review meeting at the State Emergency Operations Centre (SEOC) at Rajiv Bhawan today.
The Minister held a detailed discussion with the Collectors of Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Koraput, Malkangiri, Balasore, Bhadrak and Jajpur districts and directed them to expedite the disbursement of compensation to people affected by incessant rainfall and floods.
During the meeting, the Revenue Minister informed that nearly 28 districts of the State have been affected, to varying degrees, due to prolonged spells of heavy rainfall and floods during the current year.
In addition, southern Odisha was also widely affected by rainfall associated with the recent Deep Depression.
So far this year, an amount of Rs 241.37 crore has been disbursed as compensation to affected people by the Revenue and Disaster Management Department and the Special Relief Commissioner’s Office, he said.
Recently, Rs 5 crore has been provided to Nabarangpur district, Rs 2 crore each to Ganjam and Gajapati districts, and Rs 1 crore to Jharsuguda district for this purpose, Pujari said.
Then Minister further informed that Rs 16.04 crore had been provided to Kendrapada district, out of which approximately Rs11.21 crore has already been disbursed.
Similarly, Rs52.04 crore had been provided to Jajpur district, of which approximately Rs33.80 crore has been disbursed. In Bhadrak district, against the Rs 64.54 crore provided towards compensation, Rs43.28 crore has already been utilised.
Likewise, Rs 26.92 crore had been provided to Baleshwar district, out of which approximately Rs 5.94 crore has so far been utilised towards compensation.
Despite repeated spells of rainfall causing difficulties in the assessment of damages, the process of compensation disbursement has been expedited.
The Minister informed that the disbursement of compensation in all districts will be completed in phases before the ensuing Dussehra.
During the meeting, the Minister appreciated the sincere efforts and dedicated services rendered by all district administrations in effectively managing the prolonged rainfall and flood situation during the current year.
He further informed that detailed consultations would be held with all Collectors, senior officers, subject-matter experts and concerned institutions for strengthening disaster-resilient infrastructure in the State, and necessary measures would be undertaken accordingly.
The meeting was attended by Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil, Southern Division RDC Sangram Keshari Mahapatra, Additional SRC Padmanabha Behera & senior officers of the Department.
The Collectors of the concerned districts participated in the meeting through video conferencing.
