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World Bank sanctions $46m
for cyclone relief in Orissa

The World Bank has sanctioned $46million for victims of last year's cyclone victims of Orissa.

According to official sources, the bank sanctioned the amount for the Orissa Disaster Mitigation Authority, a government agency that undertakes immediate cyclone reconstruction.

Sources in the chief minister office told rediff.com that the bank's assistance would help the state government start relief and reconstruction work on a large scale.

The amount, which has to be spent by the end of next June, has been diverted from funds earmarked for development of water resources in the state.

"The bank's board of directors sanctioned the amount on Monday, to expedite work in cyclone-ravaged coastal Orissa," sources in the state government said.

A year after the cyclone affected people in 14 districts, particularly in Jagatsinghpur and Kenderapara, people are still living in makeshift houses and there is no arrangement for their livelihood, after they were hit by the cyclone on October 29 last year.

The government is likely to use the amount for reconstruction of houses, roads, cyclone shelters and generating employment for people in the affected areas.

A senior Indian Administrative Service official involved in reconstruction and rehabilitation said that the government would approach the bank to sanction more funds to implement its programmes in the cyclone-devastated districts by next year.

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