Centre clears ₹4,381 cr additional aid to 6 states hit by cyclones, floods
A government committee, under the chairmanship of Union home minister Amit Shah, on Friday (November 13) announced additional assistance of ₹ 4,381.88 crore to six states which were affected by cyclone, floods, and landslides this year.
West Bengal and Odisha that were hit by Cyclone Amphan in May will receive ₹ 2,707.77 crore and ₹ 128.23 as additional aid under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). The cyclone left a trail of destruction and damage in West Bengal killing more than 100 people. Before the onset of Amphan, 658,000 people — 500,000 in West Bengal and 158,000 in Odisha — were evacuated to safer spots.
Also read: Cyclone Amphan generates momentum for MGNREGA works in West Bengal
The storm had made landfall around 20 km east of Sagar Island in the Sunderbans on May 20 afternoon, packing winds gusting to a top speed of 185 km per hour, cut off road links, snapped telecommunications and left parts of West Bengal without electricity.
A day after his visit to the Amphan-hit states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had on May 23 announced assistance of ₹ 1,000 crore to West Bengal and ₹ 500 crore to Odisha which was released for immediate relief activities, the Centre said in a statement. The Prime Minister had also announced ₹ 2 lakh ex-gratia for the next of kin of the dead and Rs 50,000 for the injured, which was over and above the ex-gratia provided through the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) and the NDRF, it added.
The Centre has approved additional relief of ₹ 268.59 crore to to Maharashtra that was struck by cyclone Nisarga in June. The cyclone made landfall on June 3 near the coastal town of Alibaug, around 100 km south of Mumbai. The weather bureau had sounded red alert for at least seven coastal districts of Maharashtra and the state government had evacuated around 60,000 people from the state’s coastal region of Konkan.
Also, for floods and landslides during the south-west monsoon, ₹ 577.84 crore has been approved for Kranataka ₹ 611.61 crore for Madhya Pradesh, and ₹ 87.84 crore for Sikkim, the statement said.
