Puri: Hundreds of coconut farmers in the district here are yet to get government assistance even though five-and-a-half months have elapsed since cyclonic storm Fani made a landfall on Odisha coast.
The affected coconut farmers have been approaching the officials of Horticulture department for last several days to get the government assistance, sources said.
The cyclonic storm had left a trail of devastation in Puri district. At least 10 lakh coconut trees were either uprooted or damaged by the May 3 storm. Thousands of coconut farmers lost their livelihood due to the summer storm, sources said.
Considering the issue, the state government had announced a compensation package for the affected coconut farmers. The state government had declared it will pay a compensation of Rs 500 for each damaged coconut tree while a farmer can claim the assistance for maximum of 25 trees.
According to sources, government officials had launched a survey in the district to identify affected coconut growers. The officials had collected the details of the affected farmers’ Aadhaar cards and bank accounts to provide the assistance, sources said.
However, many affected farmers have not yet received the government assistance. In the meantime, the coconut farmers were asked to visit the Horticulture department offices for verification of their documents.
“Hundreds of coconut growers from far-flung places of the district, Friday, gathered at the Horticulture department office at Baliguali near Puri city for verification of their documents. Most of the farmers returned home as their names were missing from the cyclone victims’ list,” said Gagan Bihari Pradhan, a coconut farmer of Bhikaripada under Puri Sadar block.
According to Pradhan, the Horticulture department officials did not display the cyclone-affected farmers’ lists at the gram panchayat offices. “In the case of house damage assistance, the government officials displayed the beneficiaries’ lists at the panchayat offices. But we could not understand why Horticulture department officials are reluctant to do the same in the case of affected coconut farmers,” Pradhan rued.
When contacted, Horticulture department official Nabakishore Tada said they do not have any problem to display the affected farmers’ lists at the panchayat offices. “We had collected detailed information on the affected coconut growers during the survey. Now, we are calling them for verification of the data. Farmers are free to raise their grievances with us,” he added.
According to Tada, at least 1.4 lakh coconut farmers in Puri district were affected by the summer cyclone. “We have disbursed the assistance money to the bank accounts of 85,000 coconut farmers. The remaining farmers will be provided with the assistance after verification of their documents,” he added.