Odisha: 932 crore sought for repair, mitigation of damage due to floods
BHUBANESWAR: The state water resources department has submitted a proposal of Rs 932 crore which include Rs 283 crore for repair of damage due to the recent floods and Rs 648 crore for mitigation measures. The department has submitted the proposal to the special relief commissioner, who will include it in the final memorandum to be sent to the Centre seeking assistance.
“We have estimated Rs 283 crore for damage caused due to flood during August in river embankments and canals under major and medium irrigation sectors. Total 38 breaches were created in various districts due to the floods. The amount is required for immediate repair and restoration of the breaches and also for repairing the embankments and canals,” said Susanta Kumar Rath, chief engineer, flood control, Mahanadi basin.
The remaining Rs 648 crore has been sought as mitigation proposals for strengthening river embankments to tackle the flood-like situation in future.
“During the recent floods, we observed that there is a need for special intervention or undertaking special flood protection measures in some river embankments. The special relief commissioner’s office has been requested to submit the proposal to the Centre seeking the assistance,” said Rath.
As far as mitigation proposal for strengthening of river embankments is concerned, the department has planned to take up maximum 60 projects covering 128 km in Kendrapada district, 51 projects covering 59 km in Puri, 43 projects covering 39 km in Jajpur and 40 projects covering 31 km in Balasore district.
Total 306 projects covering 352 km are identified in 11 districts for strengthening river embankments. The recent flood has caused severe damages in five coastal districts — Balasore, Bhadrak, Kendrapada, Jagatsinghpur and Puri and three adjoining districts Khurda, Cuttack and Jajpur.