Irrigation and Civil Supplies Minister N. Uttam Kumar Reddy on Wednesday assured farmers that the State government had activated an intensive emergency response mechanism to protect soaked grain and ensure procurement of every last grain reaching the purchase centres.

Chairing a video conference with Ministers, district Collectors, senior civil supplies officials and others, which was also attended by Deputy Chief Minister Bhatti Vikramarka, Chief Secretary K. Ramakrishna Rao and Civil Supplies Commissioner Stephen Ravindra, Mr. Reddy said unseasonal rains in some areas had led to paddy getting drenched at procurement centres, adding that the next three to four days were extremely crucial for the successful completion of procurement operations.

Reports about rain-drenched paddy were received from 17 districts, involving nearly 9,214 metric tonnes. In a massive salvage operation launched overnight, authorities succeeded in shifting nearly 95 per cent of the soaked paddy to boiled rice mills, thereby preventing major crop loss, he said.

“About 9 LMT of paddy still remains to be procured, while another 8.1 LMT is expected to arrive from fields where harvesting operations are continuing, especially in districts like Siddipet, Nagarkurnool and Jagtial,” he said. He wanted the lorries engaged in sand transport to be withdrawn and pressed into service for transporting procured paddy. The lorries engaged in cement dispatches should also be diverted for paddy transport to mills.

He also focused on precautionary measures for the coming days, particularly with Bakrid holidays likely to create shortages of drivers and hamalis. Collectors were instructed to keep transport vehicles, labour teams and emergency officers on standby round the clock.

According to officials, Telangana has so far recorded paddy arrivals of 66.75 lakh metric tonnes (LMT), out of which nearly 57 LMT has already been procured. The government has released ₹10,096 crore directly into the accounts of over 8.14 lakh farmers towards MSP payments.