Bhubaneswar: In a major decision, Odisha Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi today gave his approval for the proposal to announce unseasonal rain as State Specific Disaster.
With the Chief Minister’s approval to declare unseasonal rain as State Specific Disaster, the farmers of the state, who would be affected, would get assistance from the State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF).
As decided by the State government, maximum 10 percent of fund of the annual allocation of SDRF would be spent in this regard (for State Specific Disaster).
It is worth noting that in December 2024, the unseasonal rains damaged crops on 22,791 hectares of land in the state and affected about 6.66 lakh farmers. The Chief Minister had declared it a special state disaster and provided assistance of Rs 291 crore to the farmers in the form of agricultural input subsidy.
However, with the Chief Minister’s decision to permanently declare unseasonal rains as a State Specific Disaster, the farmers can be provided assistance for this from the State Disaster Response Fund.
Currently, as many as 8 disasters have been declared as state disasters in Odisha. These are lightning, heat wave, whirlwind, tornado, heavy rain and boat accidents in the absence of floods, drowning and snakebite. After the declaration of the unseasonal rains as a State Specific Disaster, a total of 9 natural calamities have been declared as state disasters in the state. However, the central government has declared 12 calamities as national disasters.
