Bhubaneswar, March 26 A total of 4,953 people have lost their lives in various natural disasters in Odisha over the past two years, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari told the state Assembly on Thursday.
The state government is providing Rs 50,000 to the families of those who died due to heatstroke, while an ex gratia of Rs 4 lakh is provided in case of death due to other disasters, Pujari said in a written reply to a query by Congress MLA Taraprasad Bahinipati.
The ex gratia amount is being provided from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to the beneficiary's bank account through direct benefit transfer (DBT), he said.
Currently, applications from the families of 467 people who died in natural disasters are being processed to receive compensation, he stated.
The government is collecting the required documents from the families of the victims to expedite the disbursement of the ex gratia, he added.