Cyclone Michaung: Severe Storm Wreaks Havoc On Chhattisgarh Farmers; Devastating Crops & Disrupting Paddy Procurement Process

Raipur: Severe cyclonic storm Michaung storm created a difficult situation in various parts of Chhattisgarh and brought catastrophic impact on the farmers as well as their standing crops.

As per information received, the cyclonic storm has not only destroyed crops like gram, tomatoes, millets but also carried out severe destruction of paddy, which has already ripened and is about to harvest. The farmers who succeeded in taking their paddy produce procurement centres, faced another setback as their paddy became wet due to inadequate arrangements and heavy rains. Secondly, the paddy procurement centre managers in some places either halted the paddy procurement process or slowed the process.

Paddy procurement process halting adds to farmers woes

Undeclared halting of the paddy procurement process has worsened the situation of farmers.

One officer engaged in the paddy procurement process on the verge of anonymity said, in absence of clear-cut instructions from the higher level government authorities, we slowed down the process of paddy procurement. The paddy process will resume after the rain stops, he further said.

As the paddy procurement process was slowed, a smaller number of farmers are reaching the paddy procurement centers. Meanwhile, information received through the sources said, against the set target of 10 lakh metric tons of paddy, latest figures related to Surguja division said, the government procure only 3 lakh metric tons of paddy.

The storm also damaged tomatoes, and other standing crops.

Sohan Tekam, a farmer by profession said, before the election we were treated as the most important community and after the elections there is no one to even listen to our woes. And the cyclone has worsened our situation, he complained.

On the increasing difficulty of farmers, one officer said, till the new government is not formed, its policies and priorities not get determined, it is difficult for officers to step in.