Orissa asks collectors to submit crop damage reports in 48 hours

By Our Correspondent / source: www.indusvalleytimes.com

Bhubaneswar, Aug. 29: Alarmed over an imminent drought situation, Orissa chief minister Naveen Patnaik called a high-level meeting at the state secretariat on Monday evening and reviewed the measures taken to provide succor to the farmers.

The meeting – among others – was attended by revenue minister Suryanarayan Patro, agriculture minister Pradip Moharathy and chief secretary B.K. Patnaik. It was decided in the meeting to collect village level crop damage reports by Wednesday for better comprehension of the gravity of the disaster.

“Collectors of all the 30 districts have been asked to submit reports from the grassroots by August 31. Besides, they have been instructed to repair all the lift-irrigation points immediately. On September 1, the chief minister will again review the situation,” the revenue minister informed.

Earlier, collectors were asked to submit eye-estimation of the crop loss in their respective districts.

A severe drought is looming large over Orissa due to scanty rainfall. Most of the 30 districts have received less than 50 per cent rainfall. At least 90 per cent of the

Meanwhile, the opposition Congress on Monday alleged that the ruling BJD had failed to respond to the drought situation properly. “When the entire state is facing an unprecedented drought, there seems to be no preparedness on the part of the state government to tackle it,” senior Congress leader Narasingha Mishra said.

Mr Mishra, who headed a six-member fact-finding team that visited several drought-hit districts, said 90 per cent crop had been withered away because of inadequate rainfall and farmers had lost all their investment on agriculture activities.

He called upon the state government for waiver of agriculture loans and urged the government to provide soft-interest loans to take up Rabi crop.

“Since the farmers have nearly lost their crop, the state government should forthwith waiver their existing loans and provide fresh, soft-interest loans for Rabi crop so that they can restart their life,” Mr Mishra said.

He added that the fact-finding team would submit a copy of its report to the Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and urge him to announce a special compensation package for Orissa.

“This apart, we will also submit our report to the state government so that they can get a clear picture of the calamity,” Mr Mishra said.

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