A preliminary estimation has put a loss of Rs4.11 crore in Cuttack district due to the Phailin. While people heaved a sigh of relief as the cyclone hit the district with a maximum wind speed of 110 kmph, the district administration has estimated a heavy loss after making preliminary observations.
Cuttack Collector Girish SN has written a letter to the Government seeking an assistance of Rs 4.11 crore towards house collapse aid, fodder, clothing, utensils, removal of sand from farmland, assistance to destitute, nutritional food to children and transporting of people to safer places.
The authorities have sought a whopping Rs 2. 52 crore for house collapse assistance without mentioning how many houses have actually been ravaged. It has also sought Rs 84 lakh towards providing assistance to poor and destitute.
The Collector has mentioned that Rs 30 lakh were spent in evacuating people from low-lying areas. But it is not known whether the 40,000-odd people claimed to have been evacuated in some 700 villages, barring the 30,000 people evacuated in Cuttack city alone, were transported to safer places.
The administration also claims to have spent Rs 27.38 lakh for providing nutritious food to children and Rs 8.73 lakh for utensils and another Rs 8.11 lakh towards providing clothing. But the administration has failed to provide the details of the farmland affected.