Cyclone Bulbul: Naveen Patnaik announces 'special package' ranging from Rs 6,800 to Rs 18,000 per hectare for affected farmers

Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Monday announced a special package for the people affected by the cyclone 'Bulbul' and asked officials to step up the restoration operation. Patnaik also directed the district collectors to submit damage assessment reports by 18 November and disburse assistance to the people by 24 November. “The storms cause widespread damage to crops, electrical installations, houses and huge loss to livelihood,” the chief minister said. He conducted an aerial survey of the cyclone ‘Bulbul’-ravaged areas in Bhadrak, Balasore, Kendrapara, Jagatsinghpur, Jajpur, and Mayurbhanj districts. [caption id=“attachment_7609131” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] Representaional image. ANI[/caption] According to a preliminary report prepared by the office of the Special Relief Commissioner (SRC), about 5,500 houses have been damaged and nearly 3 lakh hectare of crop area was affected. About 2 lakh hectare of cultivated land suffered crop loss to the extent of 33 percent and above. Similarly, 11 large animals, 5 small animals and 50 poultry birds have been lost due to the cyclone while the state administration was yet to confirm loss of any human lives in the cyclone ‘Bulbul’, a SRC report said. Under the special package, agriculture input subsidy will be given to small and marginal farmers who sustained a crop loss of 33 percent and above, at a rate of Rs 6,800 per hectare of land in rain-fed/non-irrigated areas, Rs 13,500 per hectare of land in areas under assured irrigation and Rs 18,000 per hectare for all types of perennial crops (mango, cashew, coconut, betel vine, etc). Special Relief Commissioner PK Jena said that a central team is likely to undertake a visit to the cyclone affected areas on 14 and 15 November. “We are preparing a preliminary damage assessment report to be presented to the visiting central team,” he said. The cyclonic storm that passed through Odisha coastline on 8 and 9 November and made landfall between Sagar Island in South 24 Parganas of West Bengal and Khepupara in Bangladesh , has caused damage to paddy crop and other agriculture and horticulture produce. “The livelihood of people depending upon animal husbandry, fishing and other sectors has been affected. The package is to ameliorate the suffering of the affected people,” Patnaik said. The chief minister also directed the authorities to restore power supply and other infrastructure within next two days. He said the people should be provided water supply.