Bhubaneswar: The Odisha Government has declared 5,633 villages under 1,186 gram panchayats (GPs) of 66 blocks across nine districts in the State drought-hit and authorised the Collectors to undertake relief measures in the notified area.
“At least 233173.8 hectares of crop land in 5,633 villages under 1186 Gram Panchayats (GPs) of 66 blocks and 16 urban local bodies (ULBs) in nine districts have declared drought of moderate/severe natures,” said Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) Bishunpada Sethi here today.
The affected districts are Baragarh, Bolangir, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh.
The State Drought Monitoring Cell (SDMC) functioning at OSDMA was monitoring the drought situation in the field, while studying different parameters as prescribed in the Manual for Drought Management, 2016.
And as per the analysis, there is rainfall deviation of 39 per cent to 59 per cent (severe deficit) in five Blocks namely – Muribahal, Loisinga and Belapada of Bolangir district and two blocks – Sundargarh Sadar and Tangarapalli of Sundargarh district.
While another 30 blocks in 12 districts experienced deficit rainfall (shortfall between 19 per cent and 39 per cent, 100 blocks in 19 districts have experienced dry spell period of continuous three weeks and more.
Accordingly, the Agriculture and Farmers’ Empowerment Department and the Collectors were requested for joint verification of the crop condition in the field and submission of report to the State Government for necessary action.
As per the reports received from the Collectors through the Agriculture and Food Production Director a total of 233173.8 hectares of crop land in 5,633 villages under 1,186 GPs of 66 blocks and 16 ULBs of nine districts – Baragarh, Bolangir, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh – have sustained crop loss of 33 per cent and above due to moisture stress.
Accordingly, the State Government have declared drought of moderate/ severe natures in these areas.
