Hyderabad, May 27 (SocialNews.XYZ) Telangana Minister for Irrigation and Civil Supplies N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday assured farmers that there is no need for panic over rain-drenched paddy, asserting that the state government has activated an intensive emergency response mechanism to protect soaked grain and ensure procurement of every grain reaching the purchase centres.
Chairing a video conference with ministers, district collectors, senior civil supplies officials, and police authorities, Uttam Kumar Reddy said the review was convened in view of sudden rains and adverse weather conditions affecting paddy procurement operations in several districts.
Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao, and Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Ravindra also joined the review.
Uttam Kumar Reddy said the government had been conducting daily monitoring of procurement operations and fixing district-wise procurement targets.
While many districts had shown strong performance, unseasonal rains in some areas had led to paddy being drenched at procurement centres, prompting the administration to intervene immediately.
Telangana has so far recorded paddy arrivals of 66.75 lakh tonnes, out of which nearly 57 lakh tonnes have already been procured.
The government has released Rs 10,096 crore directly into the accounts of over 8.14 lakh farmers under MSP payments.
Reports about rain-drenched paddy were received from 17 districts, involving nearly 9,214 tonnes.
In a massive salvage operation launched overnight, authorities succeeded in shifting nearly 95 per cent of the soaked paddy to boiled rice mills, thereby preventing major crop loss.
District collectors, RDOs, additional collectors, tahsildars, and civil supplies teams were placed on high alert following government weather warnings.
Vehicles were mobilised from early morning hours to ensure the immediate transportation of drenched stocks from procurement centres to mills.
About 9 lakh tonnes of paddy still remained to be procured, while another 8.1 lakh tonnes were expected to arrive from fields where harvesting operations were continuing, especially in districts like Siddipet, Nagarkurnool, and Jagtial.
Despite rains affecting procurement speed, the minister maintained that the state remained broadly on target and most districts would complete procurement operations within the next few days.
He directed that lorries engaged in sand transport be withdrawn and pressed into service for the transportation of procured paddy. The lorries engaged in cement dispatches should also be diverted to transport paddy to mills.
He also focused on precautionary measures for the coming days, particularly given the Bakrid holidays, which are likely to create shortages of drivers and hamalis.
Collectors were instructed to keep transport vehicles, labour teams, and emergency officers on standby round the clock.
Uttam Kumar Reddy stressed that the next three to four days were extremely crucial for ensuring successful procurement operations.
Source: IANS
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