BHUBANESWAR: Unseasonal rain, which often results in widespread crop damage heaping misery on farmers, will soon be notified as a state-specific disaster.
A senior official from the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) office said the Revenue and Disaster Management department has already obtained the formal approval from the state government to declare it a state-specific disaster. It will be notified once the terms and conditions prepared for the same is finalised.
Apart from the 12 centrally-approved disasters including cyclone, drought, earthquake and flood, the state government has notified lightning, heatwave, whirlwind, tornado, heavy rain, boat mishap, drowning and snakebite as state-specific disasters since 2015. The proposed unseasonal rain will be the ninth disaster to be included to the list.
After the untimely rain between December 20 and 28 last year caused extensive damage to crops across districts, Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi in January declared it as a natural disaster to facilitate compensation to the affected farmers from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
The SRC official said the decision to include unseasonal rain in the list of state-specific disasters has been taken in view of the widespread damage it caused. While the state has already included heavy rain as a state-specific disaster, the SRC official said the fresh move will allow Odisha to get funds from the Centre under SDRF head for damage caused by rains in the pre-monsoon and post-monsoon seasons.
The terms and conditions for the proposed state-specific disaster have been worked out by the Disaster Management officials in consultation with the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Odisha State Disaster Management Authority (OSDMA) and other stakeholders. Once these are finalised, the notification will be issued, the official informed.
The government has also initiated process to rework the eight-and-half-decade-old relief code and rename it as Odisha Disaster Management Code to incorporate the holistic concept of disaster management to complement the Disaster Management Act and make it more amenable to the present times and necessities.