Cyclone Michaung: Farmers scramble to save harvest-ready crops as heavy rain set to batter southern Odisha

With cyclone Michaung all set to make landfall between Nellore and Machilipatnam, close to Bapatla in Andhra Pradesh, southern Odisha districts including Gajapati have already started to receive rainfall from late Monday night.

As per the India Meteorological Department (IMD), while there is no cyclone warning for Odisha, some southern and coastal Odisha districts are likely to see heavy to very heavy rainfall on December 5 and 6.

Being the harvest season, the farmers are reportedly scrambling to save their crop which is almost ready to be harvested.

“Many of our crops were damaged earlier because of shortage of rain. Now as we are readying to harvest whatever crop we have managed to grow, this cyclone hit us again. We have employed machines to harvest the paddy as there is no time to cut it manually," said a farmer.

It is pertinent to mention here that the Odisha government and district administration have already advised farmers to take their harvested crop to safer places and to not leave it out in the open.

Gajapati District Collector Smrutiranjan Pradhan said, “Two blocks, Kashinagar and Goshani have been identified as focus areas. Apart from that advisory has already issued for farmers in other five blocks.”

Meanwhile, a 31-member ODRAF team reached Gunupur to carry out rescue and restoration if required.

Speaking about the preparedness, ODRAF Sub-Inspector, Pradeep Kumar Dora said, “The team is already in place. We have all the equipment like inflatable boats, cutters, gen sets to face both flood and cyclone.”

Cyclone Michaung will cross the land at Bapatla between Nellore and Machilipatnam in a few hours as a severe cyclonic storm, informed the IMD

The cyclone is now moving at a speed of 9 km per hour in the sea. The wind speed at the time of landfall is likely to be 90 to 100 kmph. However, the Meteorological Department has predicted that the gusting wind speed may go up to 110 kmph.

Rainfall has already started in the bordering districts of Odisha. Heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam districts from today onwards.

The IMD has issued an orange warning for heavy to very heavy rainfall in Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Gajapati and Ganjam. A yellow warning has also been issued for Puri, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur and Kandhamal districts.