The state government orders a joint assessment of crop losses due to the cyclone by officials from the departments of Agriculture and Revenue.

Bhubaneshwar: Severe cyclonic storm Dana and the accompanying rains are likely to have damaged standing crops on 1.75 lakh acres of land and submerged another 2.80 lakh acres. Odishaa senior official said on Saturday, citing preliminary estimates.

The state government has ordered a joint assessment of crop losses due to the cyclone by officials from the departments of Agriculture and Revenue, he said.

“As per preliminary reports, the cultivated area likely to be affected by #CycloneDana is approximately 1,75,000 acres (69,995 ha). The submerged crop area estimated by naked eye is around 2,80,000 acres (1,12,310 ha),” Principal Secretary Agriculture and Farmers Empowerment Arabinda Padhi said in an article on X.

“We have asked field officials from @krushibibhag to assess and enumerate crop losses (over 33 percent and above), jointly with colleagues from the Ministry of Finance as part of a team approach under the supervision of district collectors,” he said.

Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi At a review meeting on Friday evening, it was said that the final estimate of losses in the agriculture sector would be known from the detailed report, based on which the government would decide on compensation to farmers.

He said around 8 lakh people were moved to cyclone shelters and many of them were allowed to return home as the weather improved. Meanwhile, around 22.42 lakh houses faced power cuts due to the cyclone. Among them, power supply to 14.8 lakh houses was restored by Friday evening, and the rest will be restored by Saturday, an official said.

Energy Department principal secretary Hemant Shara was visiting Kendrapara and Bhadrak, the two worst-affected districts, to supervise the restoration work. Severe cyclonic storm Dana hit the eastern coast early on Friday, triggering torrential rains and strong winds that uprooted trees and electricity poles, and caused widespread damage to infrastructure and crops in Odisha and West Bengal .

The landfall began around 12:05 am on Friday between Bhitarkanika in Kendrapara and Dhamra in Bhadrak district of Odisha with winds blowing at around 110 kmph and ended around 8:30 am.