Meanwhile, a Central team which visited the State returned to New Delhi after an extensive survey of the cyclone-ravaged areas. It found no reports on outbreak of any epidemic nor shortage of food, but said the situation continued to be far from normal, according to an official release. The official death toll in the 12 affected districts on Friday mounted to 1,361.

Addressing a news conference here on Friday, the Prime Minister announced the deployment of a Central team of senior officials to monitor relief and rescue work. He also said that HUDCO would extend an assistance of Rs 190 crore for reconstruction of 75,000 housing units in the cyclone-affected areas.Vajpayee could not conduct his scheduled to make an aerial survey of the cyclone-hit districts as his arrival was delayed by over four hours due to a technical snag in his aircraft. However, the prime minister said that on his way to Bhubaneswar, he flew over some of the affected areas. "From what I saw and on the basis of the information given to me, the loss to human life and habitation is unimaginable", he said.

Vajpayee chaired a high-level official meeting at the Raj Bhavan attended by Chief Minister Giridhar Gamang, Union Minister for Mines and Minerals Naveen Patnaik, Union Minister for Tribal Affairs Jual Oram, senior State government ministers and officials.

Vajpayee described the controversy on the declaration of the cyclone as a national calamity as ``meaningless''. He said that the Centre had been treating the cyclone as a national calamity from day one, adding that there was no separate code such as the famine code. The release of Rs 100 crore from the Centre on October 30 from the NCRF wasan indication of this, he said. The Prime Minister assured that there will be no shortage of funds and more funds would be released from the centre if necessary.

He added that the Centre has mobilised various departments and agencies to organise rescue and relief operations. Food and emergency medicines to check communicable diseases are being air-dropped in the affected areas, he said.

Vajpayee did not comment on reports about the State government's laxity in launching relief and rescue operations saying that the State had admitted that there were some inaccessible pockets and efforts have been initiated to reach the affected people in these areas. Vajpayee said that the Air Force, Navy and Army were working round-the-clock to reach the needy and restore normalcy. Central forces have been deployed to facilitate relief work and efforts are on to re-establish all communication links, he added.

Stating that the rehabilitation of the people in the cyclone-hit areas will be a gigantic task, the PrimeMinister, said that he has placed available men and resources of the Central government at the service of the affected people. But a lot more is still required to overcome the devastation, he added.