Berhampur: Maheswar Swain, 50, a farmer at Dehuka village in Kalamba panchayat in Ganjam district, died after he was hit by a paddy cutting machine on Thursday.

Maheswar was in a hurry to harvest paddy crop on his field. Swain was hit by the paddy cutting machine when he was transporting it to another field by a tractor, said a family member.

Maheswar was in a hurry to harvest the paddy as the district administration cautioned the farmers about the rains triggered by the deep depression in the Bay of Bengal. He had already harvested paddy on one of his fields with the machine that he had procured on rent to finish the work.

The machine was fitted with one tractor. But when he was trying to shift the machine to another nearby field suddenly the connecting bolt of the machine snapped.

The front wheel of the tractor lifted and the machine and hit Swain on his head, said Panchanan Swain, a farmer of the village who was also present nearby when the accident took place.

"I reached the spot immediately after the villagers informed me about the incident. A unnatural death case has been registered," said Bhagaban Pujari officer in charge Balipadar police out post.

In another incident, Balaram Das, 17, son of a farmer residing in Baulagaon under Chatrapur block in Ganjam district, died of snakebite while harvesting paddy on the field on Friday. The family members had piled the paddy crop on the field after cutting it on Thursday. "We were taking the paddy to our home when Balaram was bitten by the snake," said a family member. He further said such incidents were taking place because farmers were in a hurry to harvest the crop due to rain threat.