Bhubaneswar, Oct 11: While opposition parties have been cornering the State government over its alleged failure to tackle the drought situation in Odisha, two farmers’ suicide in Bolangir and Sambalpur has rattled the government.
The incident came to fore on Saturday. While a farmer committed suicide in Patnagarh in Bolangir district reportedly due to debt burden, another incident took place in Sambalpur where the poor farmer allegedly committed suicide over crop loss.
The agriculture minister Pradeep Maharathy has sought reports from the two collectors and claimed that the government is sensitive towards the drought situation. He said on Saturday that adequate measures are being taken to mitigate the problems of the farmers in drought affected districts.
Notably, nearly, 23 districts in the State are staring at crop loss due to deficient rain. While the situation is very serious in 9 districts of western Odisha, the opposition BJP and Congress have sent teams to assess the damaged crops in those districts while agriculture minister has also toured several districts, asking officials to ensure all possible help to the farmers.
