By Bizodisha Bureau, Bhubaneswar, November 23, 2016 : About 11.61 lakh farmers across Odisha will get Rs 1,776 crore as crop insurance for Kharif season of 2015, according to chief minister Naveen Patnaik.

Addressing a gathering during at Bargarh opn Wednesday, the chief minister said more than one lakh farmers in the district will get Rs 276 crop insurance in coming days.

While farmers in Sambalpur district will receive Rs 100 crore, cultivators in Kalahandi and Balangir districts will get Rs 166 crore and more than Rs 370 crore respectively, the chief minister informed.

The Odisha government has just started the process for disbursal of crop insurance amounts among six lakh farmers of 10 districts located in the western part of the State.

The chief minister said with the transfer of special assistance of Rs 100 per quintal of paddy to the bank accounts of the farmers hit by the drought last year, the promises made by the state government have been fulfilled.

Patnaik recently directed the district collectors to ensure farmers do not face any difficulties at the procurement centres during the paddy purchase.

The chief minister claimed that the BJD government has been working to safeguard the interest of the farmers and the same will continue.

He accused the neighbouring Chhattisgarh government for harming interest of the farmers of Odisha by constructing barrages on the upper catchment areas of Mahanadi.

Alleging the neighbouring State has conspired to supply water to industries with the establishment of the barrages on Mahanadi, Patnaik said the livelihood of the farmers, fishermen and lakhs of people of Odisha will be hit due to scarcity of water during non-monsoon period due to construction of barrages in the upstream of Mahanadi by the Chhattisgarh government.

Odisha government has demanded before the Centre to form a tribunal to address the issue of river water sharing between States, he remarked.