By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneshwar, August 6, 2019: Odisha Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday released a damage assessment report on cyclone Fani which estimates the total damage and loss at Rs 24,176 crore.

The cyclone affected state needs Rs 29,315 crore for recovery according to the Damage, Loss and Needs Assessment (DLNA) Report.

“The damage assessment report would provide a way forward to recovery of the state from the cyclone as well as develop a better preparedness strategy for the future,” Patnaik said.

FANI, which hit the coast of Odisha on May 3, this year, was one of the rarest of rare summer cyclones. It caused extensive damage and impacted life and property of more than 1.65 crore people in 14 districts of Odisha.

The chief minister invited the international agencies, national NGOs, the private sector and the civil society to come forward and join in the recovery and reconstruction efforts to rebuild Odisha.

Post the cyclone, the state government under the guidance of the Centre and in collaboration with the World Bank, Asian Development Bank (ADB) and the United Nations (UN), undertook the DLNA to support the recovery process.

The assessment spanned over a period of 20 days comprising a team of more than 100 multi-sectoral experts from the World Bank, ADB and various agencies of the UN along with officials from several departments of the state government and local NGOs.

The infrastructure sectors were the hardest hit and constitute about 42 per cent of the total needs and the social sectors which include housing, constitute 36 per cent of the total needs, as per the report.

DLNA report provides an overview of the macroeconomic and human impact of the disaster and is a first step towards laying recovery roadmaps and achievement of a vision for disaster resilient Odisha.

It proposes a recovery strategy built around three pillars – resilient housing, resilient infrastructure and resilient livelihoods.