Central team on a three-day visit to Odisha to assess damage caused by Cyclone Jawad

Bhubaneswar: A six-member Central team led by a Joint Secretary in the Ministry of Home Affairs on Sunday left for the field verification to access the damages done to agriculture and others due to Cyclone Jawad, which reached near Odisha coast in the form of a depression before moving towards West Bengal early this month. The team members left to the affected districts after holding discussion with Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) P K Jena here. The team has been divided into three units. While one unit will visit Ganjam and Puri districts, the second one to assess losses in Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack districts. Another unit will visit the Jajpur and Kendrapara districts. The inter-ministerial central team led by Saurav Ray, Joint Secretary (CEPI), Ministry of Home Affairs, was apprised by the state government on the damages done by the calamity. Though there were no major damages to the electrical infrastructures and buildings, the extremely heavy rainfall during the calamity had severely damaged the standing crops. Jena said there has been no major damage to the infrastructure in the recent cyclone. However, we have apprised the team that the maximum damage has been caused to the farmers in terms of crop loss. We have given them preliminary information in this regard, he said. Stating that the loss assessment of agriculture is a little difficult task, Jena said the state government will submit a report to the team. After the field visit and preparation of the final assessment, the team is likely to submit its report within one week to the Disaster Management Division of the MHA for quick admissibility of central assistance. The team will also recommend whether the disaster can be considered to be of a ‘severe nature’, an official said.