A central government team has inspected flood and landslide damage across Odisha’s Ganjam district, including roads, bridges, irrigation projects, power infrastructure, crops, houses and a hospital, as the state prepares to discuss relief requirements in Bhubaneswar.
The eight-member team, led by Ravi Shankar of the Ministry of Home Affairs, conducted the inspection on the second day of its visit. The assessment followed heavy rain and flooding in the Rushikulya river and its tributaries after cyclonic storm Arnab made landfall in neighbouring Andhra Pradesh on October 28.
The team examined river banks, sand-casting of standing crops, irrigation projects, roads, bridges, electric poles and infrastructure facilities at the subdivisional hospital in Aska. It also visited collapsed houses in Aska, Purushottampur and Dharakote blocks.
Revenue Divisional Commissioner of the Southern Division Vijay Amrut Kulange and Ganjam Collector Keerthi Vasan V accompanied the team and briefed its members on the damage caused by the rain and subsequent floods. Ganjam was reported to be the worst-affected district, with more than one lakh people affected and standing paddy crops across around one lakh hectares damaged.
Small businesses in Aska and Sheragada were also affected, adding to the disruption caused to household livelihoods and agricultural activity. The inspection covered damage to public infrastructure as well as private homes, indicating that the district’s recovery needs extend beyond immediate flood relief.
The central team had earlier visited Gajapati district, another area affected by the weather event. Its members are scheduled to hold discussions with the Odisha government in Bhubaneswar on Thursday, where the findings from the field assessment are expected to inform the state’s request for assistance.
The central government is expected to sanction flood assistance for the affected district based on the team’s recommendations, according to sources cited in the report. The amount and timing of any assistance had not been specified in the supplied report.
The scale of crop damage has prompted calls for compensation beyond the standard relief framework. Social activists urged the government to declare the flooding a national disaster and provide additional support to affected farmers. N Damburu Reddy, a former zilla parishad member, said the extreme rain and floods had severely affected farmers and called for adequate compensation beyond the norms of the relief code.
Activist Prafulla Samantara separately urged the government to establish a Ganjam district reconstruction authority. The proposal would create a dedicated institutional mechanism for recovery, although no decision on it was reported.
The next formal step is the scheduled discussion between the central team and the Odisha government in Bhubaneswar. Any assistance for Ganjam will be determined after the team submits or presents its recommendations on the assessed damage.
