Chatrapur: Farmers in Odisha’s Ganjam district are a concerned lot as heavy rainfall associated with severe cyclone ‘Michaung’ threatens their crops, a source said Tuesday.
Farmers have been hurriedly harvesting their crops and transporting them to safer locations to protect them from rain.
“Majority of our paddy crop has already been damaged this year due to low rainfall and irrigation difficulties. The remaining produce is at risk of being destroyed if there is heavy rainfall,” said Harihara Sahu, a farmer from Chhatrapur area.
Indian Meteorological Department (IMD) informed that southern Odisha districts including Malkangiri, Koraput, Rayagada, Ganjam, and Gajapati are likely to receive heavy rainfall in wake of severe cyclone ‘Michaung’, which is likely to make landfall between Nellore and Machilipatnam in Andhra Pradesh Tuesday.
Meanwhile, Gajapati received 8.5mm rainfall, followed by 8.3mm in Koraput, 3.9mm in Ganjam, 2.5mm in Malkangiri and 1.5mm in Rayagada between 5:30pm Monday and 8:30am Tuesday, the Met Department said.
IMD Director General Mrutyunjay Mohapatra had said Monday that though there will be no major impact of the cyclone in Odisha, heavy rains are likely in parts of the state.
PNN