Leader of Opposition and former chief minister Naveen Patnaik’s visit to Ganjam to assess the crop loss suffered by farmers due to unseasonal rains is drawing huge crowds.

Naveen visited areas like Hinjili, Seragarh, Podigaon and Aska in Ganjam district on Monday and interacted with affected farmers. The farmers showed Naveen their paddy fields and the damaged crops. They pointed out how their entire year’s worth of effort had gone to waste because of the unseasonal rains.

The farmers alleged that officials are yet to visit the affected areas and address their issues. They also said had they been informed about the rainfall in advance, their paddy crop would have been saved as they would have taken the harvested paddy from the field to their houses. They told Naveen they were yet to get information about theinsurance schemes.

Naveen assured the farmers that he was with them always and he would fight for justice for the farmers.

Expressing his anguish over the government’s failure to provide assistance to the farmers, Naveen has asked the Mohan Majhi government to immeditaly provide relief to the people.

Naveen visited the affected areas of Puri, Kendrapara, Cuttack and Jagatsingpur to meet the farmerson Tuesday.

On the other hand, chief minister Mohan Charan Majhi held a review meeting with officials on how to immediately provide assistance to the farmers whose paddy has been destroyed by unseasonal rains on Monday. All the departments have been asked to immediately submit the crop loss damage report to the state government.

Meanwhile, following the request of the state government, the companies have agreed to accept reports from the farmers about their crop loss till January 1, 2025.

On Sunday, Majhi toured some of the worst affected areas. His two deputies and two other senior ministers also visited some other districts hit by unseasonal rains. The state government has urged the farmers to reach out about the crop loss on the helpline number 14447.