Kendrapara/Berhampur: Two farmers died in two different places in Odisha as they were allegedly upset over Kharif crop loss due to the recent unseasonal rainfall.
One farmer allegedly died by suicide in Ganjam district, while the second suffered a heart attack in Kendrapara district, their family members claimed.
In the first incident, a 64-year-old farmer allegedly died by suicide after unseasonal rainfall damaged his crops in Barang village under Ganjam district’s Chhatrapur police station limits Thursday.
The deceased was identified as Banamali Penthei. He allegedly died by suicide after returning from his field, where the near-to-harvest paddy crops were submerged due to the untimely rainfall, his family members claimed.
Ganjam collector Dibya Jyoti Parida said an inquiry will be conducted into the incident by an executive magistrate to find out the cause behind his death. Police will also conduct an investigation separately.
The district administration will provide assistance of Rs 30,000 to the family members of the deceased from the district Red Cross fund, he said.
Simanchal Nahak, the secretary of Rushikulya Rait Mahasangh, a farmers’ organisation in the district, said the deceased was a sharecropper and cultivated paddy on around five acres. He had also a debt burden of over Rs 2 lakh, Nahak said.
He might have hanged himself after seeing the damaged paddy crops due to the unseasonal rains, he said.
The inspector-in-charge of Chhatrapur police station, Nirod Kumar Dash, said a case of unnatural death was started after his daughter-in-law lodged an FIR.
The farmer’s body has been sent to a hospital for a post-mortem examination to ascertain the cause of death, he said.
In the second incident, Gourahari Mallick (52), a resident of Santhapura village in the Derabish block of Kendrapara district, suffered a cardiac arrest after finding out his crop was damaged due to the unseasonal downpour.
He was rushed to Kendrapara district headquarters hospital, where doctors declared him dead on Wednesday.
Mallick had reportedly borrowed Rs 60,000 for agrarian work and had hoped to repay the loan after the kharif yield, said Gayadhar Dhal, the president of the district Krusaka Sabha, a CPM-affiliated outfit.
The tehsildar of Derabish has been asked to probe the alleged crop loss angle and submit a report at the earliest.
On the basis of the inquiry report, further steps will be taken, said the additional district magistrate (ADM) of Kendrapara, Nilu Mohapatra.
Meanwhile, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Suresh Pujari said paddy crops in different parts of the state have been damaged due to the unseasonal rainfall. On the request of collectors, the date for procurement of paddy has been postponed, he said.
The assessment of crop damage has not been carried out as rainfall has resumed in the state.
A meeting of officials of the revenue, agriculture and cooperation departments would be held soon to decide on the future course of action, Pujari said.
He said the insurance companies have been asked to assist the insured farmers without delay.
The government assured that it was looking into the issues of the farmers with all sympathy and taking necessary steps as per existing norms to support them, the minister said.
PTI
