Bhubaneswar: Spiritual leaders, celebrities extend help to Fani-affected

Bhubaneswar: Following the declaration of Rs 1,000 crore additional assistance to the cyclone Fani-affected Odisha by the Centre on Monday, the state has now got helping hands from spiritual leaders, politicians, celebrities to cricketers.

The ‘Extremely Severe Cyclone’ Fani, which made landfall in Puri district of Odisha on May 3, caused unprecedented havoc in the state claiming nearly 45 lives.

Spiritual leader Dalai Lama has donated Rs 1 crore from the Dalai Lama Trust with a letter to Mr Patnaik which read: “As a mark of solidarity, I am donating Rs 1 crore from the Dalai Lama trust to the efforts to provide relief and rebuilt.”

Union minister Dharmendra Pradhan has also donated his one month’s salary towards the cause.

As per official sources, the governments of Tamil Nadu and Uttar Pradesh have donated Rs 10 crore each while the Chhattisgarh government has donated Rs 11 crore while the Uttarakhand government donated Rs 5 crore.

Actor Akshay Kumar has reportedly donated Rs 1 crore to the CMRF to help the cyclone affected people.

However, there is no official confirmation about it.

On the other hand, Bollywood celebrities like Abhishek Bachchan, Rajkumar Rao, Tiger Shroff, Disha Patani, Varun Dhawan, Boman Irani, Terence Lewis, Tamannaah Bhatia and Kapil Sharma urged their fans to donate for the cyclone-hit Odisha.

Adani Ports donated Rs 25 crore, whereas ICICI bank and IMFA Group have given Rs 10 crore and Rs 95 lakh to the CMRF.