Officials assess crops damaged in gale, storm

Collector Rahul Sharma, along with officials from concerned department inspected crops destroyed by gale in the district on Thursday.

He visited the Lenkala Gadda forest fringe fields in Palimela mandal, where officials from the Agriculture and Horticulture and Forest departments reported that a sudden gale had damaged crops and uprooted trees. They estimated that about 30 to 50 hectares of cotton, chilli and paddy were destroyed by the storm.

Officials said farmers should not harvest the damaged fields and that departments will make preliminary loss assessments and submit reports to the government so that compensation can be arranged.

Because vehicles could not reach some spots, the Collector rode a motorcycle with Forest department officials to examine the uprooted trees on site.

He directed the Forest department to count the trees fell in the forest area and submit a report. He also asked for fresh plantations where trees were uprooted and for steps to restore the forests.

District Forest officer Naveen Reddy, Horticulture officer Sunil, Agriculture officer Babu Rao, DPRO Srinivas, Tahsildar Anil, MPDO Sai Pawan and other officials were present.