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Drought loss estimate revised

A day after state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta had,on Thursday,announced the loss due to drought in the state to be Rs 5,000 crore,the minister,on Friday,at a press conference,he revised the figure and put the loss estimate at Rs 6,435 crore.

A day after state Finance Minister Asim Dasgupta had,on Thursday,announced the loss due to drought in the state to be Rs 5,000 crore,the minister,on Friday,at a press conference,he revised the figure and put the loss estimate at Rs 6,435 crore.

He said the state government will request the Centre to release a sum of Rs 600 crore for relief. Dasgupta said he hoped the Central team would visit the state in the first week of September to asses the losses and drought situation in the state.

He said he has been informed that E K Majhi,joint secretary in the Union Agriculture Ministry,will lead the team. Before the team lands the state,the Finance department will prepare the final report,he said.

According to sources,in their report to the Finance department,the Agriculture department has claimed a loss of Rs 6250 crore,while the Minor Irrigation department has claimed a loss of Rs 25 crore,Fisheries department a loss of Rs 153 crore,the Public health Engineering department a loss of Rs 4.7 crore and the Animal Husbandry department a loss of Rs 2.3 crore.

“We will propose a relief plan for Rs 954 crore,in which the Central government has to bear Rs 600 crore and the state government will allocate Rs 354 crore,” said Dasgupta.

Although the state Finance department has calculated the losses due to drought in 11 districts,the government has asked all district magistrates to submit their reports on loss before the Central team arrives the state,said an official in the Agriculture department.

“Now we have estimated figures and will get the final figures later,” said the official.

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Sources said calculation of actual loss is not possible now as it may rain in the first week of September.

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