Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government has released an additional amount of Rs 20 crore to Ganjam district for disaster response and relief operations in view of the prevailing flood situation in the aftermath of cyclonic storm ‘Arnab’.

The Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) in Odisha released the financial assistance to Ganjam.

“An additional amount of Rs 20 crore has been released to Ganjam district as financial assistance for disaster response and relief operations in view of the prevailing flood situation in the aftermath of Cyclonic Storm ‘Arnab’,” said the office of the SRC on Friday.

SRC Rajesh Prabhakar Patil had earlier released Rs 19 crore to support relief and rescue operations in Ganjam and seven other affected districts in Odisha.

Ganjam district had received Rs 5 crore while Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati, Nabarangpur, Kalahandi and Kandhamal were allocated Rs 2 crore each.

With this fresh allocation, the state government has so far provided financial assistance of Rs 25 crore to Ganjam for relief operations.

Earlier in the day, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi undertook and aerial survey of the flood-affected areas of Ganjam district and reviewed the prevailing situation.

The authorities, meanwhile, deployed four helicopters to strengthen relief operations in the South Odisha district. The helicopters airdropped food packets at 21 locations in the flood-ravaged district.

It is worth mentioning here that the India Coast Guard (ICG) had deployed a helicopter to rescue marooned villagers in Ganjam.