Farmers in the districts could not shift ripened paddy due to paucity of safe storage spaces
Paddy crops lying in the field after crop cutting in a Ganjam village. Photo: Hrusikesh Mohanty Several quantities of paddy in southern Odisha districts have been damaged due to rainfall attributed to Cyclone Michaung, which made landfall on the southern coast of Andhra Pradesh between Nellore and Machilipatnam, close to Bapatla on December 5.
Light to moderate rainfall was recorded in parts of south and coastal Odisha under the influence of the system over the Bay of Bengal for last two days, while the heavy to very heavy rainfall is likely to occur in the region when the cyclone is gradually weakening into a depression.
India Meteorological Department (IMD)’s regional office at Bhubaneswar has issued an orange warning for the three Odisha-Andhra Pradesh border districts of Koraput, Malkanagiri and Rayagada on December 6, forecasting heavy rainfall from 7 cm to 20 cm, a day after the landfall of Michaung.
IMD has also issued the yellow warning forecasting heavy rainfall — from 7 to 11 cm — in the districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Kalahandi, Kandhamal and Nabarangpur.
In view of the prediction of the heavy rainfall, the Odisha government has already deployed five teams of Odisha Disaster Rapid Action Force and eight teams of fire services for rescue operation, said a government officer.
Gajapati, a landslide-prone district adjoining Andhra Pradesh, has shifted over 200 pregnant women to nearby hospitals and declared a holiday for all schools in the district on December 6 due to possibilities of heavy rainfall. The district administration has also cancelled the leave of all government staff and asked them to be present in their respective workplaces till December 7.
“We have taken all precautionary measures to face any eventuality,” said Smruti Ranjan Pradhan, Gajapati collector.
Farmers in the districts will bear the brunt of the rains, as they had not shifted the ripened crops to safer places. “We could not shift the ripened paddy due to non-availability of safe places to store. If heavy rains will lash, all crops including standing ones will be ruined,” said Sameer Pradhan of Sheragada in Ganjam district.
“If there is more rain, it will damage crops,” said Bijaya Swain in Koraput. Around 30 per cent of ripened paddy in the district is yet to be harvested, sources said.
Subrat Kumar Sahu, chief district agriculture officer of Ganjam district however said there was no need to panic as only 15 per cent of 0.179 million hectares of paddy crops have been cut so far in the district. The standing crops will be saved if there is no very heavy rainfall, he said.
Standing paddy in an area of 25,603 acres was damaged last month, agriculture officials estimated.
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