Expedite shifting paddy to rice mills: Collector Prasanna Venkatesh

Eluru: District collector Prasanna Venkatesh convened a videoconference with mandal officials and special officers to review the post-cyclone situation here on Thursday.

Speaking at a meeting, collector has instructed officials to shift the entire paddy produced by farmers to rice mills on a war-footing and said that there is a need to speed up the restoration works.

Officials should approach farmers and find out problems faced by them, create confidence among farmers that they are not alone and the government will support them in recovering from the damage caused by the cyclone. Officials are asked to divert paddy from fields to rice mills within 24 hours and keep an adequate quantity of gunny bags to avoid inconvenience to farmers.

Collector instructed officials to drain out rainwater from fields and submit a report on the loss caused to the crop at the earliest.

He directed officials to take special measures to prevent spread of communicable diseases in villages and towns. Removal of silt from drains and garbage on roads should be carried out quickly.

For eradication of mosquitoes, spraying should be done. Potable water should be supplied to people. Medical camps should be conducted in the inundated localities and anti-venom medication should be kept in hospitals without fail. The damaged roads should be repaired and restored immediately. Electricity supply interruptions should be avoided and all villages should get supply.

Joint Collector B Lavanyaveni, DRO M Venkateswarlu, officials of irrigation, panchayat raj, RWS, R&B, Transco and others were present.