Leader of the Opposition Naveen Patnaik wrote to Odisha CM Mohan Charan Majhi on Thursday, urging him to take immediate steps to compensate farmers who have been hit hard by unseasonal rains.

Patnaik undertook an extensive tour of rain-affected Ganjam, Puri, Cuttack, Jagatsinghpur and Kendrapara district on December 30 and 31.

"The farmers have suffered huge losses due to unseasonal rains and they are in severe distress. The rains have caused extensive damage to both paddy and non-paddy crops during the harvesting period," he said.

"They were not aware about the intensity of rains as the government advisory was not issued on time. Besides, at many places the survey of crop damage has not yet been done," he claimed.

Patnaik said it was "disturbing" and "unfortunate" that several farmers died in the last 10 days.

"During my visit to Jagatinghpur district, I had gone to the house of a young farmer, Krutibas Swain of Balikuda block who allegedly committed suicide on December 30 due to crop loss. It is indeed deeply shocking," he said.

"The farmers of Odisha and their families have faced a huge calamity. Their confidence is shattered. In the present circumstances, I would like to demand that the government must work hard and provide timely and adequate compensation so as to boost the confidence of farmers," he said.

Reiterating his demand for a special category status for Odisha, Patnaik said if the Centre had given the tag, the state's farmers would have benefited immensely during this hard time.

The BJP-led government in the state has announced that it will compensate the farmers affected by the unseasonal rains that happened between December 20 and 28, and the work of the survey of crop damage is underway at present.