Andhra Pradesh has asked the Centre for immediate financial assistance for farmers whose standing crops were inundated or flattened by Cyclone Arnab, pressing for money to be released before a full damage assessment is completed.
In a letter to Union Agriculture and Farmers' Welfare Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan on Wednesday, state Agriculture Minister K Atchannaidu said preliminary estimates put the affected area at 2,24,489 hectares across 14 districts, with losses hitting about 3.45 lakh farmers.
The break-up he gave: 154 mandals affected, 2,11,726 hectares of agricultural land damaged, of which 2,09,460 hectares was paddy, along with 3,18,704 agricultural farmers and 25,914 horticultural farmers. West Godavari recorded the heaviest crop damage at 76,176 hectares, followed by Dr B R Ambedkar Konaseema at 44,232 hectares, Kakinada at 42,222, East Godavari at 29,866 and Krishna at 22,339. Paddy at the grain-filling and harvesting stage is especially exposed to lodging, sprouting and discolouration after prolonged flooding.
Arnab made landfall south of Yanam on the Andhra Pradesh coast before dawn on Wednesday, the minister said, with sustained winds of 125-135 kmph and gusts reaching 150 kmph. Rain was heavy to extremely heavy along the coast from Krishna to Srikakulam. Visakhapatnam averaged 236.7 mm, Vizianagaram 212.1 mm and Anakapalli 209.2 mm, while Gopalapatnam in Visakhapatnam district recorded the highest at 323.2 mm.
Horticulture suffered across 12,763 hectares, with banana and coconut trees uprooted by wind and vegetables threatened by waterlogging; papaya, flower and betel leaf plantations were also damaged, the minister said.
Atchannaidu urged the Centre to sanction input subsidy as per the norms of the National Disaster Response Fund and the State Disaster Response Fund, and to release advance funds for relief. He said the actual extent of losses would be known only after the rain stops and floodwater recedes, when agriculture, horticulture and revenue officials conduct joint field inspections. The state had already issued more than 1.05 crore crop-specific advisories to warn farmers about the cyclone.
Separately, Roads and Buildings Minister BC Janardhan Reddy said restoration was under way on 126.165 km of damaged roads at a preliminary cost of ₹59.45 crore, including ₹9.18 crore for temporary repairs and ₹50.27 crore for permanent restoration. East Godavari accounts for the largest share at ₹29.42 crore, followed by Srikakulam at ₹24.94 crore. Officials have cleared 859 of the 1,058 trees uprooted along roads and restored traffic at 20 of the 57 disrupted locations, with 53 control rooms and 550 JCBs and 596 power saws deployed statewide.
(With inputs from media reports)