Odisha not seeking immediate cyclone help: Naveen

Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday mentioned Odisha did not wish to burden the Centre on the peak of COVID-19 second wave by demanding immediate monetary help for finishing up cyclone restoration works.

In a gathering with Prime Minister Narendra Modi right here, Mr. Patnaik as an alternative referred to as for provisioning of help for long run cyclone mitigation measures.

“As the country is at the peak of COVID-19 pandemic, we have not sought any immediate financial assistance to burden the Central government and would like to manage it through our own resources to tide over the crisis,” he mentioned.

He apprised Mr. Modi of the large-scale devastation attributable to the cyclone and steps taken by the State authorities forward of the cyclone and the continuing restoration efforts.

Before endeavor an aerial survey of Bhadrak and Balasore districts, which had been ravaged by very extreme cyclonic storm, ‘Yaas’, Mr. Modi reviewed its influence on Odisha on the Biju Patnaik International Airport right here.

Governor Ganeshi Lal, Mr. Patnaik, Union Minister for Petroleum and Natural Gas Dharmendra Pradhan and Minister of State of Fisheries, Animal Husbandry and Dairying Pratap Chandra Sarangi had been current on the assembly.

In a sequence of tweets, Mr. Patnaik thanked the Prime Minister for visiting the State. Mr. Patnaik, “I have sought assistance for long-term measures to make Odisha disaster resilient as we are frequented by such climate hazards every year and highlighted State’s demand for disaster resilient power infrastructure and resilient coastal protection with storm surge resilient embankments.”

It must be talked about that on May 1, the Centre had launched ₹641.6 crore prematurely as the primary instalment of the Central share of the State Disaster Response Fund.

Disaster resilient energy system

After the overview assembly Pradeep Kumar Jena, Special Relief Commissioner, elaborated that catastrophe resilient energy system meant adoption of higher know-how and design ideally getting into for underground energy provide and strengthening of the facility infrastructure.

“Similarly, though we have a 480-km long coastline, we have more than 1,600 km of saline embankment. Of which, about 400 to 450 km is vulnerable as it can give protection to a tidal surge of 2 to 2.5 metre. If the storm surge goes beyond that height, we will be unable to give protection to the coastal region. The model says Balasore district could receive a storm surge upto 7-8 metre high, for which we want a robust protection system.”

Emphasis was laid on sharing of funds by Centre and the State for making a catastrophe resilient infrastructure.

In 2019, when extraordinarily extreme cyclonic storm ‘Fani’ hit the Odisha coast, particularly Puri district, the State authorities had give you a requirement for long-term catastrophe mitigation plan that required ₹17,000 crore from the Centre, together with ₹10,000 crore for catastrophe resilient energy infrastructure.

Similarly, after cyclone ‘Amphan’ hit 4 coastal districts in 2020, Odisha sought a ₹ 20,000 crore-package from the Centre to develop a catastrophe resilient infrastructure.

Mr. Pradhan mentioned in tweet, “ PM Modi reassured that his government will continue to work together and will extend all the support to Odisha in mitigating the impact of Cyclone Yaas, further strengthening disaster preparedness and building a disaster resilient Odisha.”