Collectors asked to submit crop damage report by Dec 18

Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) BP Sethi, in a letter to the collectors of Puri, Jagatsinghpur, Kendrapara, Cuttack and Jajpur districts, said the report should be submitted to him by December 18.The letter was sent in the wake of a recent review of rainfall data which showed that 19 blocks of the five districts have received more than 50 mm showers on December 9 and 10.

Sources said the government will provide agriculture input subsidy to farmers who have sustained crop loss of 33 per cent or above in the rain.

The SRC has asked the five district collectors to arrange for a field assessment by joint teams of officials of Revenue and Agriculture and Farmer Empowerment Departments.

The field assessment would help in ascertaining the extent of damage, he said.

Sethi also directed the collectors to exclude crop lands that have already found a mention in the earlier reports.

In November, the state government had ascertained that 4.07 lakh hectares of crop land in 19 districts of the state were affected by unseasonal rain.