Central Team to visit Odisha to assess drought

Odisha Channel Bureau Bhubaneswar: A Central Team will visit Odisha for assessment of drought situation and to suggest remedial measures. Agriculture & Farmers Welfare Minister Radha Mohan Singh has directed the Ministry to constitute a Central Team comprising officers of the Ministry and a representative of ICAR-Central Rice Research Institute, Cuttack.The team will be headed by R.P.Mallick, Additional Commissioner, according to a PIB release.Union Minister Dharmendra Pradhan had requested Singh to depute a Central Team for taking a firsthand view of the prevailing drought situation in different parts of the State and suggest remedial measures and strategies for combating agrarian and rural distress.Pradhan had highlighted that eight districts namely Dhenkanal, Khurda, Balangir, Boudh, Bargarh, Subarnapur, Kandhamal and Keonjhar have received less than normal rainfall.Additionally, agricultural activities in 103 blocks in 23 districts had been adversely affected, Pradhan had pointed out.