The Mamata Banerjee government is likely to place a demand of Rs 80,000 crore to undertake restoration works in areas devastated by Cyclone Amphan in Bengal before a team of officials from central ministries which visited affected blocks in South 24-Parganas and North 24-Parganas on Friday.
The seven-member inter-ministerial central team (IMCT) — led by Anuj Sharma, joint secretary in the ministry of home affairs — visited Patharpratima, Brajaballavpur, Ramganga and Bharatala which are some of the worst-hit areas in South 24-Parganas.
The team is scheduled to hold a meeting with top state government officials led by the chief secretary Rajiva Sinha at Nabanna on Saturday where the state is set to place the charter of demands.
“Based on the reports received from 16 Amphan-affected districts, the list of damages has been drafted. In the final assessment, losses totalled about Rs 80,000 crore. The assessment would be handed over to the ICMT on Saturday,” said a senior official.
Sources said a total of 21 lakh dwelling units had been damaged either completely or partially and all the affected needed to be given financial assistance.
This apart, power sector was hit badly by the cyclone.
More than 250 power supply substations were damaged severely. The power department also needs to erect 4.5 lakh poles afresh as the poles were either uprooted or damaged badly.
“An assessment by the department suggests it will require Rs 3,000 crore to restore normality in terms of supply of electricity across the state,” said an official.
Moreover, hundreds of kilometres of bituminous road and rural roads were damaged because of stagnation of water and more than 200 km of embankments were breached.
“The irrigation department has suggested that a large portion of earthen embankments in the Sunderbans should be converted into concrete embankments. After cyclone Aila had devastated parts of the Sunderbans in 2009, the Centre had released a sum of Rs 5,000 crore to build concrete embankments. The concrete embankments built with the funds have saved hundreds of villages this time,” said another official.
The agriculture and fisheries sectors have also suffered a lot in some blocks.
The state government officials think the central team would assess the damages properly, particularly after Prime Minister himself had paid a visit within 48 hours after the cyclone had hit the state on May 20.
So far, the Centre has released a sum of Rs 1,000 crore as an advance under the national disaster management fund to undertake immediate relief and rehabilitation work.