Odisha govt asks district-level officers to submit geo tagging report on crop loss in Cyclone Dana

Bhubaneswar, Oct 26 (FN Representative) The Odisha government on Saturday asked the district-level officers to go to the ground and send the geo-tagging report of the damaged crops in the Cyclone Dana. Severe cyclonic storm Dana which made a landfall in between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara district and Dhamra in Bhadrak district on October 25 morning, had caused extensive damages to the standing crops in five districts worst hit by the cyclone.

A review meeting was held on Saturday at Krishi Bhavan under the chairmanship of Deputy Chief Minister and Minister for Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment K V Singhdeo on the crop damage due to cyclone ‘Dana’. Principal Secretary Dr.Arabinda Kumar Padhee, Director Agriculture Prem Chandra Choudhary, Director Horticulture Nikhil Pawan Kayan and CDAO (virtually) were present in the meeting. It was decided in the meeting that after the rain subsides, the district-level officers will go to the ground and send the geo-tagging report of the damaged crops to the government, and the agriculture department based on that report, would take necessary decisions . Singhdeo said the state government is fully prepared to ensure that farmers receive their rightful support and assistance. It is worth noting that 14 districts of the state have been affected by the impact of the storm, while crop areas have been submerged and crops affected in mostly Kendrapara, Bhadrak, Balasore, Jajpur, Mayurbhanj districts. According to a preliminary report about 88,594 hectares of land in 7 blocks of Bhadrak district has been submerged while 24,827 hectares of agricultural land has been estimated as likely to be affected. Similarly, in 8 blocks of Kendrapara around 28,426 hectares of land have been affected while 17,666 hectares of land in 7 blocks of Jajpur district were submerged and 2709 hectares of land was affected. About 1872 hectares of land have been submerged and 2381 hectares of land is estimated to be affected in 16 blocks of Mayurbhanj district.

In Balasore district 4396 hectares of land in 12 blocks of submerged while 3140 hectares of land have been affected. According to the government’s directives, Rs. 8,500 per hectare in Rainfed Areas and Rs. 17,000 in Assured Irrigated areas, and for Perennial crops Rs. 22,500 will be provided as assistance to small and marginal farmers having land holding up to 2 hectares of farmland and more than 33 percent crop loss due to natural calamities The decision regarding assistance will be taken later after receiving the report from the district level, Dr. Padhee said.