Govt seeks Rs 932 cr for repair of damaged embankments 

BHUBANESWAR: The Water Resources department has submitted the final damage report of major and medium embankments due to the recent floods with proposals for repair amounting to Rs  932.64 crore.

The State Government had assessed damage to different sectors at Rs  1,100 crore as per preliminary report. The report was also submitted to the central team which visited the flood-affected areas for two days from September 16. Chief secretary Asit Tripathy had asked all departments to prepare the final damage assessment by month end.

In a letter to the Principal Secretary in Water Resources department, Jyotirmaya Rath, Engineer-in-Chief of the department, said a preliminary damage report of Rs  181.64 crore relating to major and medium embankments was submitted on September 10. However, damages have been revised in the final report with Rs  283.74 crore.

Rath said flood mitigation proposals for strengthening of embankments have been assessed at Rs  648.89 crore for the flood-affected districts. He said mitigation proposals amounting to Rs  932.64 crore have been submitted to the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) for necessary funding under the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF). 

Official sources said the recent floods had caused 38 breaches on embankments.