Central team visits drought affected areas of Odisha

Odisha Sun Times Bureau
Bargarh/ Nuapada, Dec 3:

The inter-ministerial team formed by Union Agriculture Ministry today visited drought affected Bargarh and Nuapada districts of Odisha to assess the drought condition in the state.

The 10 member team that arrived in Bhubaneswar last evening, today met Special Relief Commissioner Pradipta Kumar Mohapatra before splitting into two groups and touring the western Odisha districts via helicopters.

While one five-membered team landed at Padampur town of Bargarh district and is assessing the drought condition today, the other five-membered team is doing the same in Nuapada district. The teams would tour Bolangir and Kalahandi districts tomorrow.

After the teams complete their field visit tomorrow, they would attend a meeting chaired by the Chief Secretary in the Secretariat on December 5 before leaving for New Delhi the same day.

The team, led by Union Joint Secretary of Agriculture KS Srinivas, will submit its assessment report to the Union Agriculture Ministry.

As per sources, there are two Odia officers in the visiting delegation.

The visit follows the State Government’s request to the Center for interim drought relief of Rs 1,687 crore.

Notably, a five-member central team, led by Union Additional Commissioner of Agriculture RP Malik earlier visited the state on October 7 and 8 to review the situation. The team had been formed by Union Agriculture Minister Radha Mohan Singh based on a request from Union Petroleum Minister Dharmendra Pradhan.