Bhubaneswar: Odisha chief minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday directed district collectors to stay alert before the probable unseasonal rain predicted to start from December 7 and ensure safety of harvested paddy crops.

The instructions were issued to the district collectors during a video-conference Naveen organised at the secretariat.

Special relief commissioner Bishnupada Sethi said the district administrations were asked to spread awareness among farmers to save crops from the cyclonic rain. "The farmers were advised to shift their harvested paddy to safer places and keep those properly stacked and covered to avoid any loss or damage due to the rain," he said.

The meteorology department has predicted rain in south Odisha on December 7 and in coastal districts for the next two days. "There will be rain in the state under the influence of a well-marked low pressure formed over Bay of Bengal, which is likely to intensify further into a deep depression," said director of Bhubaneswar regional meteorology centre Sarat Chandra Sahu.

The district collectors have been asked to use funds from regulated marketing committees for the purpose of advertising and public announcements about weather and crop safety.

Naveen also directed the collectors to complete disbursement of agriculture input subsidy of Rs 718.5 crore to the farmers affected by drought, pest attack and unseasonal rain by December 15, said Sethi.

The farmers of Odisha are already struggling with crop damage due to drought, pest attack and unseasonal rainfall. According to an assessment by the Odisha government, about 8.5 lakh hectares of crop area had been affected by these three disasters that hit the farmers during the current year.