The Odisha government on Friday announced in favour of not seeking instant central assistance to meet with post-Cyclone-Yaas restoration and reconstruction work saying that it did not want to exert fiscal load on the centre at a time when the country is battling a raging pandemic.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on his arrival at Bhubaneswar reviewed the post-cyclone situation and damages caused by Cyclone Yaas at a meeting here with Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik.
Patnaik, who apprised PM Modi of the magnitude of damage caused by cyclone, Yaas on May 25, 26 and 27 in an eight-minute film on the advance of cyclone and State’s preparedness, later informed the State government resolve not to burden the centre in this trying times of pandemic health crisis.
“Apprised him about the large-scale devastation caused by the cyclone and steps taken by the State Govt ahead of the cyclone and the ongoing restoration efforts”, Patnaik stated in the twitter handle.
“As the country is at the peak of #COVID19 pandemic, we have not sought any immediate financial assistance to burden the Central Govt and would like to manage it through our own resources to tide over the crisis. #OdishaFightsYaas”, Patnaik tweeted.
The State government, which did not put forth central assistance for the immediate cyclone restoration programme during the review meeting, is currently assessing the damage and the assessment process will be complete within a week.
“Chief Minister informed the PM that the cyclone had triggered extensive damage. Besides the resultant storm surge had resulted in large scale inundation. However, from the State’s side we did not demand any financial assistance from the central government,” Pradeep Kumar Jena, Special Relief Commissioner, told reporters here after the review meeting.