Efforts to provide relief to farmers hit by Cyclone ‘Arnab’ have run into a major hurdle in Durg district as the ongoing strike by Patwaris has left the local administration critically short-staffed to carry out field assessment surveys. The delay has heightened anxiety among cultivators and is expected to dent upcoming paddy procurement figures. Although the Collector has directed Tahsildars to conduct rapid field surveys to disburse financial assistance under Revenue Book Circular (RBC) 6-4, revenue ground personnel remain unavailable as Patwaris entered their third week of agitation. While the Agriculture Department claims to be surveying fields alongside insurance representatives to settle claims under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY), uninsured farmers and those awaiting administrative compensation fear being left out. Incessant rain and gusty winds lasting nearly two days have extensively flattened the early-sown paddy variety, which was ripe and scheduled for pre-Diwali harvesting. Farmers claim that close to 40% of the standing crop has suffered lodging.

 

With fields still heavily waterlogged, conventional combine harvesters cannot operate, forcing growers to hire specialised chain machines at steep rates of Rs 5,000 per acre. The mounting harvest expenses, coupled with unpaid crop loans taken for seeds and fertilisers, threaten to delay land preparation for the upcoming crop cycle too. Administrative figures, however, offer a more conservative estimate. Out of the approximately 1.34 lakh hectares under paddy cultivation in Durg, the Agriculture Department estimates lodging across 8% to 10% of the sown area. Deputy Director of Agriculture, Sandeep Kumar Bhoi said lodging has been confirmed in around 9,000 hectares. ‘A definitive assessment of the loss can only be arrived at once the joint surveys with insurance representatives are concluded,’ Bhoi said. When contacted for comments regarding the potential shortfall in procurement targets and crop loan recovery, Sunil Kumar Verma, Chief Executive Officer of Zila Sahakari Kendriya Bank, Durg, stated via text message that he would respond shortly.

 

Meanwhile on being contacted, Additional District Collector Khem Lal Verma acknowledged that the crop loss survey has been hit due to absence of Patwaris emphasizing that Nayab Tehsildars and Revenue Inspectors besides other Revenue Department staff have been actively engaged in the loss assessment. On being asked that whether the District Administration has any concrete data of the loss caused due to the cyclone, the officer stated that since paddy is on its harvest stage, any tentative data regarding the loss cannot be estimated and it will be ascertained only after the survey. When questioned whether the damage to crop will adversely affect the paddy procurement process, the ADM stated that it will depend completely on the number of farmers reaching the procurement centers with their produce.