Drought debate: Congress stages walkout

BHUBANESWAR: The Opposition Congress on Wednesday walked out of the Assembly over the drought issue even as the State Government promised to take appropriate measures after getting crop-cutting reports from the district collectors. The issue of dry spell was discussed through an adjournment motion moved by the Opposition. “While farmers are committing suicide due to crop loss in the drought-affected districts, the Government has been delaying implementation of the relief code meant to help people in distress,” Leader of the Opposition Bhupinder Singh said before leading the walkout. Though the Government is aware of the situation in some districts and should declare the calamity as drought without waiting for the crop cutting report it has failed to do so, said Congress chief whip Prasad Harichandan. He alleged  that one Laxman Jagat (28) under Sinapalli block of Nuapada district had already died of starvation. BJP Legislature Party leader KV Singhdeo said the farmer suicide cases  would increase if the Government delayed declaration of drought-hit status to the districts facing dry spell.  Stating that there is a need for changing the Relief Code, Singhdeo said the measures declared by the State Government for dealing with the situation are also impractical. Agreeing with the BJD members that the Centre has not done justice to Odisha in dealing with natural calamities, he said all the MPs from the State should meet the Prime Minister on the issue. Santosh Singh Saluja (Cong) alleged that as the State Government has ignored the situation completely, large-scale migration has started from the Western Odisha districts. While Naba Kishore Das (Cong) alleged that drought was manmade, his party colleague S Singhbhoi criticised the State Government for its failure to tackle the situation. Replying to the debate, Revenue and Disaster Management Minister Surya Narayan Patro informed the House that the Government had already asked all the collectors to submit crop-cutting reports by January 15. “As per the relief code, the Government can only declare certain areas as drought-hit after getting crop-cutting reports,” Patro said. The eye estimation report submitted by district collectors indicated that there had been crop loss over 50 per cent in 16 districts, Patro said and promised that the Government would not hesitate to declare districts as drought-hit where crop loss was 50 per cent or above.  A report prepared by the National Remote Sensing Centre in October claimed that there was ‘mild’ crop loss in 11 districts while Balangir reported only ‘moderate’ crop loss.