Prolonged dry spell is threatening the kharif crop in Orissa. If the spell continues for another week, the situation will become worse, according to state agriculture minister Surendra Naik.
Naik told FE that the government has drawn up a contingency plan to save the crop, which is facing moisture stress condition owing to dry spell.
He said the state government has issued directives to district collectors to take stock of the situation. Naik said steps would be taken to repair and operate Lift Irrigation (LI) points, while defunct points would be repaired on a war footing. According to him, district collectors have been asked to release up to Rs 10,000 for repairing of each LI points. If the repairing cost exceeds the ceiling of Rs 10,000, they would have to send the proposal to the special relief commissioner (SRC) for approval. They have also been instructed to find alternative sources of water to be supplied for irrigation.
Out of the total 18,046 LI points in the state, as many as 8,675 are lying defunct. About 70% of the defunct points are facing energy-related problem as power supply was disconnected due to the non-payment of dues.