Odisha govt declares drought in certain pockets of state's nine districts

The Odisha government has declared drought in certain pockets of nine districts of the state and authorised the collectors to undertake relief measures following the norm, officials said Thursday.

As many as 5,633 villages of 66 Blocks and 16 urban local bodies (ULBs) of nine districts - Baragarh, Bolangir, Deogarh, Jharsuguda, Kalahandi, Nabarangpur, Nuapada, Sambalpur and Sundargarh have suffered crop loss of 33 per cent and above due to moisture stress, a notification issued by the Revenue and Disaster Management department on Wednesday night said.

"Accordingly, the state government has declared drought of moderate and severe natures in these areas and authorised the collectors to undertake relief measures," Special Relief Commissioner (SRC) B P Sethi said.

The State Drought Monitoring Cell (SDMC) has been monitoring the drought situation, while studying different parameters as prescribed in the Manual for Drought Management, 2016.

The official said according to the analysis, there is rainfall deviation of 39 per cent to 59 per cent (severe deficit) in five blocks -- Muribahal, Loisinga and Belapada of Bolangir district and two blocks -- Sundargarh Sadar and Tangarapalli of Sundargarh District.

Another 30 blocks in 12 districts experienced deficit rainfall (shortfall between 19 per cent and 39 per cent), while 100 blocks in 19 districts have experienced dry spell of continuous three weeks and more, the SRC office said.

Accordingly, the Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Department, and the collectors were requested for joint verification of the crop condition in the field.

The SRC office said the cumulative average rainfall in Odisha from June 1 to October 20 was surplus of 17.2 per cent over the long-term average.