Central team inspects cyclone-hit crop fields in AP’s Kakinada District of AP
Kakinada, Nov 1(TNT): A four-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT) on Sunday inspected paddy fields damaged by Cyclone Arnab in Kakinada district and interacted with farmers to assess the crop losses and their demands for compensation and relief.
The team, headed by Chittaranjan Das, Joint Secretary in the Union Ministry of Home Affairs, visited cyclone-affected villages in Thallarevu and Kajuluru mandals.
The other members of the team were Prasanth Armokar, Additional Development Commissioner (Extension), Department of Agriculture and Farmers Welfare; Himalaya Garg, Assistant Director, Department of Expenditure, Union Ministry of Finance; and Pranay Garg, Deputy Director, Central Electricity Authority, Ministry of Power.
Earlier, the team visited an exhibition of photographs depicting cyclone damage at the Kakinada Collectorate.
District Collector M N Harendhira Prasad explained the precautionary measures taken by the administration to alert officials and the public ahead of the cyclone, as well as the subsequent relief operations, through a presentation.
The team later visited damaged paddy fields in Polekurru village in Thallarevu mandal and Bapanapalli and Kolanka villages in Kajuluru mandal.
Farmers, particularly tenant farmers, told the Central team that they had invested between Rs 30,000 and Rs 35,000 per acre on paddy cultivation but lost their entire crop as the cyclone struck at the harvesting stage.
They urged the Central team to recommend abolition of land cess on endowment lands, besides seeking investment subsidies and crop insurance compensation.
The farmers also sought relaxation of quality norms for paddy procurement to enable the purchase of discoloured grain and demanded that free crop insurance be extended to affected farmers.
State Disaster Management Organisation Managing Director Prakhar Jain, Kakinada Joint Collector Apurva Bharat and officials from the Agriculture, Revenue and other departments accompanied the Central team during the visit.
TNT TMR
