Bhubaneswar: The Odisha government Thursday declared unseasonal rains as state state-specific disaster so that farmers can be compensated for crop loss, a statement said.
A proposal of the Revenue and Disaster Management Department in this regard was approved by Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, it said.
As a result of this, farmers will be able to get assistance from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) for crop loss in unseasonal rainfall, it said, adding that a maximum of 10 per cent of the annual allocation of SDRF can be used for this purpose.
In December, crops over 22,791 hectare of land were damaged due to unseasonal rains, and about 6.66 lakh farmers were affected.
The state government declared it a special state disaster and provided Rs 291 crore as agricultural input subsidies to farmers.
Other disasters in this category are lightning, heat wave, whirlwind, tornado, heavy rain and boat accidents in the absence of flood, drowning and snakebite.
PTI
