Odisha seeks funds for flood hit areas

Bhubaneswar: Odisha on Friday asked the central government to provide early assistance of Rs 3,265.38 crore for relief and rehabilitation work in regions hit by the September floods.

At least 21 of state's 30 districts were devastated by two successive floods and the state government asked the centre to provide assistance of Rs 3,265.38 crore and for release of adhoc assistance of Rs 1,000 crore.

"The union government did not respond to our request and promptly deputed an inter-ministerial central team for assessment of the losses and requirement of central assistance," Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik in a letter to Prime Minister Manmohan Singh said.

The chief minister said the central team concluded its field visit September 30 but the high level committee which will take a final view on the matter has not yet been convened and no fund has been released so far.

"I shall be grateful if you kindly convene the meeting …for considering the claim and take steps to release central assistance from the national disaster response fund at the earliest," Patnaik wrote.