Odisha Government Responds to Unseasonal Rains with Disaster Declaration for Farmers

State-Specific Disaster Declaration

Bhubaneswar: On Thursday, the Odisha government officially recognized the recent unseasonal rains as a state-specific disaster, enabling farmers to receive compensation for their crop losses, according to an official statement.

The Chief Minister, Mohan Charan Majhi, approved a proposal from the Revenue and Disaster Management Department regarding this declaration.

This decision allows farmers to access aid from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) to mitigate losses caused by the unexpected rainfall, with a maximum of 10% of the SDRF's annual budget allocated for this purpose.

In December, unseasonal rains adversely affected crops across 22,791 hectares, impacting approximately 6.66 lakh farmers.

In response, the state government classified this situation as a special state disaster and allocated Rs 291 crore in agricultural input subsidies to support the affected farmers.

Other disasters that fall under this category include lightning strikes, heat waves, whirlwinds, tornadoes, heavy rainfall, and incidents such as boat accidents, drowning, and snakebites in the absence of flooding.