Cyclone Fani Caused Loss of Rs 24,000 Crore to Odisha, Says Report

Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government in collaboration with a number of international agencies has estimated that the state suffered a total loss of Rs over 24,000 crore due to Cyclone 'Fani' that had ravaged its coastal districts and killed 64 people in May.

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday released a report that pegged the total loss at Rs 24,176 crore across 15 sectors and estimated that the state required Rs 29,315 crore for recovery.

Patnaik appealed to international agencies, NGOs, civil societies and the private sector to join hands for reconstruction of the state.

He said Cyclone Fani caused extensive damage to the state and impacted life and property of more than 1.65 crore people in 14 coastal districts of Odisha.

The report "Cyclone Fani - Detailed Damage And Loss Needs Assessment (DLNA)" was prepared by the state government in association with the World Bank, the Asian Development Bank and 10 agencies of the United Nations.

The assessment spanned over a period of 20 days comprising a team of more than 100 multi-sectoral experts from various agencies along with officials from various departments and local NGOs.

It covered the 14 most affected districts prioritised by the state government.

The estimation of the damage and losses by the assessment team is based on the data made available by various line departments, that was validated by field visits in five most affected districts, said Special Relief Commissioner BP Sethi.

The infrastructure sector was the hardest hit and constitute about 42 percent of the total needs while the social sector which includes housing, constitutes 36 percent of the total needs, the report said.

UN Resident Coordinator in India, Renata Lok-Dessallien, was present at the programme.

The state government had said on June 6 that the cyclone caused a total loss of Rs 9,336.26 crore, but in that case the calculations were based on the basis of the norms of the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF), official sources said.

The cyclone that made landfall at a wind speed of about 200 kmph near Puri affected 14 districts involving 20,367 villages. It affected 1.6 crore people and 1.88 lakh

hectare of crop areas.