Enumeration of damaged houses begins

BHUBANESWAR: The Government is confident of providing housing assistance to the flood- affected families by October 5.A large number of teams, comprising officials of blocks, tehsils and line departments, village-level workers (VLWs), sarpanches and ward members have been constituted in the 19 districts affected by flood for enumeration of damaged houses.More than 90 teams have been constituted in Kendrapara district for assessment of damage caused to private properties.The district administrations of Sambalpur and Jharsuguda have almost completed the enumeration work and are likely to start disbursement of housing assistance from this week, sources in the Revenue Department said.Even though 11 villages of Jajpur district are still marooned, District Collector Anil Samal exuded confidence of disbursing housing assistance to the affected families before the deadline.As rescue and relief operations are still in full swing in Puri and Kendrapara districts, the damage assessment will take a little more time. In Puri district, 109 villages are under water while in Kendrapara 78 villages are still cut off, official reports said.