BHUBANESWAR: THE Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) of Odisha on Monday asked five districts to submit damage assessment report of crops caused by unseasonal rains in a week.
In a letter to Collectors of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack and Jajpur, SRC Bishnupada Sethi said at least 19 blocks in these five districts received over 50 mm rain during December 9-10. Although early warnings were issued to the farmers to store their harvests at secured places, the Government apprehended that the rains may have damaged the crops.
A deep depression formed over the Bay of Bengal had induced showers over coastal pockets of the State during the December 9-10 period. These five districts had recorded crop damage over 4.07 lakh hectare when similar unseasonal rains had lashed the State. The State Government has already notified the damage and released funds to the districts so that agricultural input subsidy can be provided.
Sethi said, the Collectors must form joint teams to ascertain if additional crop areas have been damaged by the recent rains. All crop damage of 33 percent and above must be reported by December 18. Crop areas which have already been included and notified for damage by drought, pest attack and unseasonal rains would not be taken into account while making the assessment, the SRC said. The State Government has already released `718.5 crore to 29 districts which were hit by pest attack, drought and unseasonal rains which had affected crops over 8.5 lakh hectare.