Odisha adds more areas to 'drought-hit' list

The Odisha government today added four more blocks of Sundergarh district in the list of drought-affected areas in the state, official sources said.
Earlier, Odisha had announced 70 blocks across 15 districts as drought-hit and Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik had announced a special package for the farmers suffering from crop loss.
An official statement issued by the special relief commissioner (SRC) office said that among the new additions are 95 villages of 25 gram panchayats under four blocks and one ward under an urban local body of Sundergarh district having sustained crop loss of 33 per cent or above during Kharif 2017.

The drought-hit farmers of Sundergarh, sustaining crop loss of 33 per cent and above, will get agriculture input subsidy at the rate of Rs 6,800 per hectare in rain-fed or non-irrigated areas and Rs 13,500 per hectare in areas under assured irrigation as announced by the chief minister under the special package, an official of the SRC said.
The state government's decision to convert short-term loans to medium-term for farmers in the affected areas having crop loss of 33 per cent and above will also be implemented for the farmers of Sundergarh along with other benefits, they said.
Meanwhile, the state government has started disbursing agriculture input subsidy among the drought-hit farmers, SRC B P Sethi said.