By Our Correspondent
NEW DELHI/BHUBANESWAR/KOLKATA: Union Minister of State for Home Affairs, G. Kishan Reddy, in a written reply to a question on the cyclone ‘Bulbul’ and the details of losses and persons killed in the cyclone, in Lok Sabha, said that based on preliminary estimate, State Government of West Bengal has reported loss of 11 human lives and 35.57 lakh people were affected and the State Government of Odisha has reported no loss of human life but a total of 38.08 lakh people were affected. Damages to infrastructure such as roads, bridges, houses, etc. have also been reported due to cyclone ‘Bulbul’, the Minister added.
On providing relief package and other assistance to the affected States by the Union Government, the MoS said that as on 1st April, 2019, Rs. 447.52 crore is available with State of Odisha and Rs. 264.70 crore is available with State of West Bengal under their State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
Further, during the year 2019-20, central share amounting to Rs. 414.90 crore to West Bengal and Rs. 552.00 crore to Odisha has already been released under SDRF by the Central Government. Additional financial assistance is extended from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) as per the laid down procedure.
Reddy said that after the cyclone BULBUL, Central Government has constituted Inter-Ministerial Central Teams (IMCT) for both the States, which have visited the cyclone Bulbul affected areas in these States. State Governments have not yet submitted their memorandum for seeking additional assistance from NDRF.
He further said that primary responsibility for disaster management rests with the State Government, however the Central Government extends all possible logistics and financial support to the States to supplement their efforts to meet the situation effectively.
The Minister informed the house that in case of disaster of high magnitude, where response of various Ministries of Central Government is required, National Crisis Management Committee (NCMC) headed by Cabinet Secretary coordinates preparedness & response measures with the concerned Central agencies and State Governments.
