Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has sought Rs 12,526 crore in central assistance for damage caused by Cyclone Arnab and the subsequent floods, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Rajesh Prabhakar Patil said on Thursday. The demand was placed before an eight-member Central Inter-Ministerial Team visiting the state to assess the damage, at a preliminary assessment meeting organised by the SRC at Lok Seva Bhavan in Bhubaneswar, IANS reported.

Source: IANS via HiIndia

Rs 12,526 crTotal central assistance sought
Rs 2,526 crPreliminary damage compensation
Rs 10,000 crMitigation / permanent restoration
3Districts primarily affected; Ganjam worst-hit

Patil said preliminary reports from different departments put the estimated damage at around Rs 2,526 crore. The Rs 10,000 crore sought under the mitigation head is meant for reconstruction and permanent infrastructure — including damaged irrigation works and river embankments at places such as Aska — so that the same damage is not repeated in the next cyclone or flood, PTI reported.

Source: PTI via Dailyworld

Three districts were primarily affected by the cyclone, with Ganjam the worst-hit, Patil said. The demand made on Thursday is preliminary: a final memorandum will be prepared and submitted to the Centre within 10 to 12 days, once detailed damage reports are received from all departments.

The central demand follows the state's own immediate relief announced earlier this week, under which Odisha sanctioned Rs 107.70 crore from the State Disaster Response Fund as cash assistance of Rs 2,500 per family to 4,29,782 affected families in Ganjam district and 1,051 families in Koraput district.

What happens next: the Central Inter-Ministerial Team's assessment and Odisha's final memorandum, due within about 10-12 days, will decide how much of the Rs 12,526 crore the Centre approves and how quickly it is released.