Odisha Needs Rs 29,315 Cr For Fani Restoration Work: Report

Bhubaneswar: Odisha needs Rs 29,315 crore for restoration following the damage caused by Cyclone Fani, according to the Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment (DLNA) Report released by Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik at the State Secretariat on Tuesday.

The total loss has been pegged at Rs 24,176 crore, the report said.

The infrastructure sectors were the hardest hit and constitute about 42% of the total needs and the social sectors, which include housing, constitute 36% of the total needs, the DLNA report added.

“The damage assessment report would provide a way forward to recovery of the state from the cyclone as well as develop a better preparedness strategy for the future. We invite international agencies, national NGOs, the private sector and the civil society to come forward and join in the recovery and reconstruction efforts to rebuild Odisha,” the Chief Minister said.

Naveen said that Odisha undertook one of the biggest human evacuations in history with a record 1.5 million people being shifted in just 24 hours before Fani made landfall near Puri on May 3.

One of the rarest of rare summer cyclones, it caused extensive damage and impacted more than 1.65 crore people in 14 districts of Odisha.

THE ASSESSMENT

The assessment team comprised more than 100 multi-sectoral experts from World Bank, ADB and various UN agencies along with officials from several state departments and local NGOs

The team undertook a detailed assessment of the damage and the recovery needs across 15 sectors, in the aftermath of the cyclone. The assessment spanned a period of over 20 days.

The estimation of the damage and losses was based on the data available at the level of departments and their validation by field visits to most of the affected districts.

The Report

It provides an overview of the macroeconomic and human impact of the disaster and is a first step towards laying recovery road maps and achievement of a vision for disaster resilient Odisha.

It proposes a recovery strategy built around three pillars; Resilient Housing, Resilient Infrastructure and Resilient Livelihoods.

Odisha had set global benchmarks in handling disasters by leveraging technology, strengthening institutional capacities and building resilient measures that helped it in this calamity of national magnitude.

DLNA was one of such initiatives which brought global best practices and knowledge for fostering ‘Built Back Better’ in the recovery efforts post cyclone ‘Fani. The DLNA will contribute significantly towards expediting the reconstruction and recovery processes in the State, a government press release said.

United Nations Resident Coordinator in India Renata Lok-Dessallien, representatives of World Bank, ADB, UN and other organisations were also present in the meeting.