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Wednesday, March 06, 2019

The Impact of Disasters on Odisha’s Economy

In 2013, Odisha estimated the losses caused by Cyclone Phailin and subsequent floods at Rs 22,000 crores. This was more than the state's annual plan outlay of Rs 21,000 crore for that year.

Even a month after the cyclone, all across the deluge and gale-affected districts there was clear evidence that the state administration was unable to provide relief to the 4 million people rendered homeless by Phailin.

It took Odisha's economy some seve
n years to recover from its last super cyclone in 1999.

During the Ninth Plan period (1997-2002), Odisha was ravaged by a series of disasters. On the eve of the Tenth Plan (2002-03), the entire state was facing severe drought. The total loss of livelihood and damage to capital stock because of calamities between during the Ninth Plan stands at Rs 13,000 crore. This is close to 60 per cent of the state's total plan outlay of Rs 19,000 crore for the Tenth Five-Year Plan.

Natural calamities have seriously affected livelihoods in the state and the income level of households. These also led to serious setback for capital formation process in the economy.

The impact of disasters on Odisha’s economy is evident. The state's per capita income declined rapidly in the second half of the 1990s, disaster-wise the worst phase. It is now half the national average. An average of 900,000 ha of agricultural production is lost every year because of disasters.

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