Orissa demands Rs 1516 cr as drought assistance

With half of 30 districts hit by drought because of inadequate rains, the Orissa government today demanded Rs 1516 crore as central assistance to deal with the situation.

Bhubaneswar: With half of 30 districts
hit by drought because of inadequate rains, the Orissa
government today demanded Rs 1516 crore as central assistance
to deal with the situation.

"The Centre had committed Rs 151.92 crore for the 2009
drought and Rs 402 crore towards flood in 2008 from National
Calamity Contigency Fund (NCCF). But it did not release the
fund," Revenue and Disaster Management minister S N Patro told
reporters here.

"In view of the drought, I request the Centre to
release Rs 151.92 crore from the NCCF approved by a high-level
committee chaired by the finance minister," he said inviting a
central team to access the magnitude of drought this time.

Though the state government had several times in the
past asked for release of Rs 535.92 crore (Rs 151.92 plus Rs
402 crore), the Centre had ignored the demand, the minister
said.

Patro said that though then union home minister
Shivraj Patil during the 2008 floods announced central
assistance of Rs 500 crore to Orissa, it received only Rs 98
crore.

Quoting reports submitted by district collectors, the
minister said that a total of 10,336 villages and 104 wards in
15 districts had been identified as drought affected where
crop loss of 50 per cent and above was recorded during the
kharif-2010, he said.

Meanwhile, the state government announced compensation
of Rs 4,000 per hectare of crop loss for irrigated land and Rs
2,000 for each hectare of non-irrigated land.

-PTI

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