State agricultural minister Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay yesterday conducted a review meeting of Hooghly district zilla parishad to assess the total loss of paddy crops and vegetables due to untimely heavy rainfall followed by cyclone Dana and also from the release of water from DVC dams.
The agricultural minister said the names of the affected farmers are being enlisted and uploaded, satellite pictures have been taken of the affected agriculture land areas. Post this, agriculture department officials will visit the affected areas for spot verification to assess the loss and the compensation to be provided. The chief minister has extended the loss assessment time limit by another month. The chief minister has said that not a single affected farmer should be deprived of the compensation and hence extra caution is being taken to complete the five steps of loss assessment, said the minister.
Also present at the meeting were state minister Becharam Manna, zila parishad sabhadipati Ranjan Dhara, district magistrate Mukta Arya and other top officials from the agriculture department and officers from district and panchayat levels.