Odisha flash floods: SRC asks 9 dist collectors for damage assessment report

Bhubaneswar: The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC),Odisha, directed nine district collectors to submit an assessment report on damage incurred due to heavy rainfall that triggered flash floods in southern region of the state.

In a letter dated Aug 10, Bishnupada Sethi asked the district collectors of Balangir, Gajapati, Kalahandi, Kandhamal, Koraput, Malkangiri, Nabarangpur, Rayagada and Sambalpur to submit the report by August 17.

“Due to heavy precipitation during last week of July and first week of August, several parts of your district have experienced flooding and inundation. The assessment of damage to private properties in the sectors such as houses, animal, husbandry, loss of boat and net, damage of fish pond/fish seed farm, sand cast, damage to crop and loss to handloom & handicraft artisans and enumeration of beneficiaries has to be taken up on priority so that assistance as per the norms of SDRF/NDRF can be paid to affected persons expeditiously,” the SRC wrote.

An instruction has been issued to the officials for assessing the damage caused by the flash floods.

“For assessment of these damages, squad approach must be followed and adequate number of teams comprising members from different departments may be formed. The teams while covering an affected village will asses and enumerate beneficiaries in all sectors simultaneously. The supervising officers shall conduct test checks to ensure correctness in the assessment,” Sethi mentioned in the letter.

He asked to take photograph of damages as evidence.

As all beneficiary oriented assistance are to be paid through DBT to the account of the beneficiaries, Sethi made it clear to the officials to collect the bank details of the beneficiaries at the time of enumeration for online transfer.

Besides, Sethi instructed various departments including Agriculture, Health & Family Welfare, School & Mass Education and Women & Child Development to submit damage assessment report to public infrastructure due to recent flood within a week.

“You are requested to take up the assessment of damages to public properties in different permissible sectors such as primary school building, primary health centre, road, bridge, culvert, drinking water supply schemes, minor irrigation/canal, community assets, power and furnish the report in attached formats within a week,” the SRC said in a letter.