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Imran Khan in Bhubaneswar
The Orissa government is observing 'Disaster Preparedness Day' on Monday to mark the second anniversary of the super cyclone that ravaged coastal Orissa on October 29, 1999.
The state government owned Orissa State Disaster Mitigation Authority, in association with UN agencies and NGOs, has launched a disaster preparedness and mitigation campaign from October 10 to 29.
The super cyclone killed about 10,000 people officially in coastal Orissa and damaged lakhs of houses, uprooted 9 million trees and washed away villages, particularly in Jagatsinghpur district.
The Ersama block was worst hit by the cyclone, which can be gauged from the fact that even today, two years after the natural calamity, signs of devastation are very much there.
Contrary to the tall claims of the state government regarding the reconstruction and rehabilitation work, a large number of cyclone affected are yet to get any help from the government agencies.
OSDMA admitted that tough World Bank guidelines for funding, and the consequent poor response to tenders for cyclone centres in coastal areas like Erasama in Jagatsinghpur district have delayed post-cyclone reconstruction work.
Two years after the calamity, the state government has only been able to undertake reconstruction projects worth Rs 600 million under World Bank assistance.
The bank had agreed to provide an assistance of Rs 23.5 billion in the first phase.
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