Cyclone Phailin: Odisha governor writes to PM for central assistance

Bhubaneswar: With Odisha government yet to receive any central assistance for relief and restoration work in cyclone Phailin affected districts, Governor SC Jamir on Friday urged Prime Minister Manmohan Singh for an early release of the assistance. [caption id=“attachment_1219331” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  Reuters[/caption] Jamir wrote a letter to the Prime Minister for an early consideration of releasing the central assistance of Rs 4242.41 crore for the first phase and Rs 1590 crore for the second phase flood’s extensive damage in 13 districts, a Raj Bhavan release said. Describing the damage done to property and infrastructure by the natural disaster as “extensive”, Jamir’s letter focused on the restoration of infrastructure and reconstruction activities. Noting that the inter-ministerial central team had already visited the affected areas in some district, Jamir requested the Prime Minister to provide funds so that restoration and reconstruction work continued in full swing. Earlier, the Governor’s office had forwarded a memorandum to the President regarding the state’s demand for availing central assistance in the aftermath of cyclone and subsequent floods. The Governor’s letter to the Prime Minister came a day after the state Cabinet decided to increase the corpus of the Odisha Contingency Fund (OCF) from Rs 400 crore to Rs 1900 crore. While the ruling BJD had been staging agitations demanding immediate release of central assistance for the relief and restoration work in the calamity hit areas, BJP leader Venkaiah Naidu also asked the Centre to immediately release Rs 500 crore for the state. PTI