Bhubaneswar: The 10-member Central team in two groups reached Nuapada and Bargarh districts on Thursday to assess the drought situation.
The group led by Union Joint Secretary, Agriculture, K.S. Srinivas visited Nupada and Kalahandi districts while another group visited Baragarh and Balangir districts.
Talking to mediapersons after a meeting with the Special Relief Commissioner of Odisha (SRC) PK Mohapatra here, Srinivas said, “Each group will tour two districts and do assessment of the situation. On December 5, the Central team will have a debrief meeting with the Chief Secretary, and then a discussion with the Chief Minister.”
The Central team, which was formed by the Agriculture Ministry after the State government presented a demand for Rs 1,687 crore interim aid before the Centre to face the drought situation, on Wednesday arrived in Bhubaneswar.
The Special Relief Commissioner said, “We have a courtesy meeting with the Central team and informed them about the memorandum submitted by the State government to the Centre.”
Further, he stated, “Earlier, the State government had told about the drought situation in 173 blocks of Odisha. However, a list of additional blocks affected by the calamity was given to the team in the meeting. The Agriculture Minister will make an announcement about this in the State Assembly as the winter session of the House is going on.”
The SRC added the final report on drought situation will be given to the Centre by the end of this month.
Notably, a Central team had visited the drought-hit areas of Odisha on October 7 and 8 and given proposals to the State government.