The Odisha government Saturday announced a Rs 1600 crore package for livelihood support for farmers, fishermen and others affected by Cyclone Fani.
Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik announced the package and included support for those dependant on animal husbandry, fisheries, handloom and handicraft.
As per the announcement, agriculture input subsidy of Rs 6,800 per hectare of land in non-irrigated areas, Rs 13,500 per hectare of land in areas under assured irrigation and Rs 18,000 per hectare for all types of perennial crops will be provided to farmers who suffered crop loss of 22 per cent or above.
An incentive of Rs 15,000 per farmer will be provided for those engaged in betel cultivation, while Rs 40,000 per unit will be provided for construction of shade net or thatched structure for development of mushroom units which were destroyed in the cyclone.
An incentive of Rs 25,000 per hectare will also be provided to farmers undertaking banana cultivation.
To those who lost domestic animals in the calamity, Patnaik said Rs 30,000 will be given per milch cow and buffalo, Rs 25,000 per draught animal and Rs 3,000 per goat.
A financial assistance of Rs 12,000 per hectare shall be provided to fish farmers, Patnaik said.
Similarly, additional seed money of Rs 10,000 will be given to the affected women self help groups in the cyclone hit areas. About 268 common facility centres will be provided Rs 4 lakh each at the gram panchayat level in the extremely affected areas.
Patnaik also announced that 100 per cent remission in respect of cess on land for 2019-20 will be given to all the cyclone affected villages. There will be 100 per cent exemption on water rate for farmers in places where crop loss is 33 per cent or more during this year's rabi season.
Cyclone Fani, which struck coastal Odisha on May 3, apart from killing 43 people, caused extensive damage to standing crops, fruit orchards, vegetable crops, plantation crops and various other cash crops. It also caused severe damage to assets and infrastructure in the farmlands.
Patnaik said school examination fees up to high school level in government schools will be waived in the affected areas.
He announced that two extra pairs of school uniforms will be provided in the extremely affected areas and one extra pair in the severely affected areas to the children up to elementary school level.
The chief minister launched a web portal to seek support in the aftermath of the cyclone. The website – rebuild.odisha.gov.in – has been developed for crowd funding of various projects in the cyclone-affected areas.
Through the portal, a person can directly donate for restoration of schools and shelters and support the homeless. Contributions can also be made to the chief ministers relief fund on the website.
Death Toll Rises to 43
The death toll in Odisha due to Cyclone Fani mounted to 43 on Saturday, even as people staged a road blockade and assaulted a state official in protest against water shortage and power cuts in the coastal belt ravaged by the severe storm a week ago.
According to an official, two fresh deaths have been reported in Cuttack and Khurda districts of the state.
While the state government claimed to have restored power and drinking water supplies in urban pockets of Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur and Cuttack districts, people Saturday blocked roads connecting Paradip and Cuttack, and the national highway linking Bhubaneswar with Puri, alleging lack of basic amenities.
Similar agitations were seen in parts of the state capital where power continued to remain elusive for the eighth consecutive day.
In the pilgrim town of Puri, worst hit in the storm, locals were leaving homes and shifting elsewhere temporarily, even as the state government claimed that it was undertaking relief work on war footing.
"We left Puri and moved to Koraput (500 km away) as there is no certainty on restoration of power and water supply. Bhubaneswar, too, has been severely hit by power and drinking water crisis.
"Add to that, hotel and guest house owners are charging more than the usual rate in view of the rush," Rathindra Mishra, a native of Mausima Lane in Puri, said.
A report from Jajpur district said angry people in Binjharpur tehsil area beat up a revenue department official for not getting relief as announced by the state government.
Jajpur District Collector R K Das said "stringent action" will be taken against those found guilty of assaulting the official.
In almost all electricity offices in the coastal districts, police personnel have been deployed to tackle people attempting to attack officials, according to senior officer in the state government.
Meanwhile, Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi in a letter to the district collector of Khurda sought immediate distribution of relief material and cash to affected people.
Sethi said he has received letters alleging that relief packages were being denied to eligible beneficiaries.
The "extremely-severe" cyclone, one of the "rarest of rare", unleashed copious rain and windstorms that gusted up to 240 kmph on May 3, blowing away thatched houses and swamping towns and villages in Odisha.
NDRF director general S N Pradhan, who met Chief Secretary A P Padhi and the special relief commissioner, said the specialised force would assist the government till power is restored in the state.
"The NDRF has deployed personnel in 50 different teams. They are equipped with sophisticated machines like power cutter, plasma cutter and gas cutters. Our personnel are assisting the state government in restoring power," he added.
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