BHUBANESWAR: Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Friday demanded that the Centre should convene the high level committee (HLC) for considering financial assistance to Odisha for the two phases for floods in September.In a letter to Union Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee, the Chief Minister said that Odisha has been devastated by two successive floods during September, 2011 affecting 21 out of 30 districts of the state. The State Government had submitted two memoranda seeking Central assistance of Rs 3265.38 crore for the management of these calamities of rare severity, he said.Besides, the Chief Minister said he had also requested the Centre to release an adhoc assistance of Rs 1000 crore for flood relief and rehabilitation works.Naveen said the Union Government did not respond to the State’s request and promptly deputed an inter-ministerial central team for assessment of losses and requirement of central assistance. Although the central team concluded its field visit on September 30, the HLC which will take a final view on the matter, has not yet been convened and no fund has been released so far, he said.The Chief Minister requested him to convene the HLC and take steps to release central assistance from the National Disaster Response Fund at the earliest.
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