Odisha Agriculture minister Pradeep Kumar Maharathy today asked the district administrations of Kandhmal and Boudh to immediately provide subsidised water pump sets to farmers.
He also asked to activate all lift irrigation points on war footings in view of the drought-like situation there.
Maharathy, who visited some of the affected areas and interacted with farmers, came down heavily on officials for tardy progress - particularly in repair and energisation of lift irrrigation points and distribution of subsidised pump sets though the government had allocated huge funds for the purpose.
Owing to scanty and erratic rain fall paddy cultivation was done in only 39,970 hectares of low and medium land in the two districts compared to 50,000 hectares of cultivable land, whose 70 per cent of standing crop was said to be damaged now.
Of the total 421 lift irrigation points energized in the district so far, only 143 are functioning either partially or completely and against the sanction of 1070 pump sets only 50 pump set were provided to the farmers for irrigation, the review conducted by the minister found.
Maharathy directed Kandhamal administration to submit accurate and justified reports while submitting the harvesting report of the district so that the actual impact of the drought can be gauged.
He urged MLAs of the district to provide support to poor farmers from their MLALAD fund for purchasing subsidised pump sets for irrigation.
In Boudh too he reviewed the drought-like situation caused by deficient rains this year.
Finance Minister Pradip Kumar Amat asked district soil conservation department to implement government projects properly.
Kandhmal MP Pratyusha Rajeswari Singh, MLA Mahidhar Rana and Agricultural department commissioner Pramod Kumar Meherda and district officials were present at the meeting.
