Hyderabad:Civil supplies minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday assured farmers that there was “absolutely no need for panic” over rain-drenched paddy, asserting that the state government had activated an intensive emergency response mechanism to protect soaked grain and ensure procurement of every last 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 meeting was convened in view of sudden rains and adverse weather conditions affecting paddy procurement operations in several districts. Deputy Chief Minister Mallu 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 monitoring procurement operations daily and fixing district-wise targets. While many districts had shown strong performance, unseasonal rains in some areas had led to paddy getting drenched at procurement centres, prompting immediate intervention by the administration.
Telangana had so far recorded paddy arrivals of 66.75 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), out of which nearly 57 LMT had 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 metric 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 weather warnings issued by the government. Vehicles were mobilised from early morning hours to ensure immediate transportation of drenched stocks from procurement centres to mills. About 9 LMT of paddy still remained to be procured, while another 8.1 LMT was expected to arrive from fields, where harvesting operations were continuing, especially in districts like Siddipet, Nagarkurnool and Jagtial.
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