Bhubaneswar, Oct. 20: The state government today sought central assistance of Rs 4,242.41 crore to meet the losses caused by Phailin and resultant floods that hit the coastal belt of Odisha.

Ganjam district alone has suffered a loss to the tune of Rs 1,500 crore. The state sought an assistance of Rs 1,048.14 crore to meet losses in the energy sector, Rs 718.67 to take up relief work and Rs 599.88 crore to carry out the repair of gram panchayat roads.

The rest of the amount is being to take up the repair of school and college buildings, roads and bridges and to ensure water supply apart from input subsidy for crop loss.

The memorandum was presented to Union home secretary Anil Goswami, who came on a day-long visit to the state to assess the loss caused by Phailin. After visiting cyclone-ravaged areas in Ganjam, Goswami met chief minister Naveen Patnaik at the state secretariat and discussed the steps taken to expedite relief and rescue operations.

Goswami said: “An inter-ministerial committee will soon be constituted to examine the state’s demand. They will visit the state and prepare a report based on which assistance would be given to the state.”

He also said the state could take benefits from various central assistance scheme. “We have asked the Odisha government to submit proposals to various ministries and avail benefit from a number of Centre-sponsored schemes.”

He asserted that it was the combined effort of the Centre and the state that helped minimise human casualty and other losses during the cyclone.

“The government of India was in regular touch with the state government after it was confirmed on October 8 that the cyclone would hit the state. The Prime Minister and home minister were regularly briefed. I personally talked to the chief secretary over phone five or six times. All the central forces reached the state in time.”

He praised the efforts of the state government for its preparedness to face the challenge posed by the Phailin. However, the Union home secretary who was scheduled to visit the flood-hit areas of Balasore could not able to go because of inclement weather.

On the other hand, a Congress delegation led by its Pradesh Congress Committee chief Jaydev Jena and Union minister of chemicals and fertiliser Srikant Jena today visited Ganjam district. “People are yet to get relief and the government is busy in self-lauding propaganda,” said Jena.

Reports from Balasore and Mayurbhanj suggest that there are many pockets where people are yet to get relief materials. Unable to get kerosene, they continue to live in complete darkness and in the constant fear of snake-bite.

People in Baripada town continued to protest against the lack of relief. Yesterday, they had blocked roads by burning tyres to demand relief materials. Special relief commissioner Pradipta Mohapatra said: “We inquired into the matter. It was found that though three wards of Baripada Municipality were affected, people of the entire municipal area are demanding relief. This triggered chaos and resulted in a law-and-order problem.”