Chief Secretary K Ramakrishna Rao on Thursday asked the district collectors to strictly follow the standard operating procedures to minimize damage to paddy in case of unexpected rains.

He held a teleconference with district collectors and took stock of the situation arising in the districts due to the expected heavy rainfall conditions. The issue of paddy procurement and agricultural operations as part of the pre monsoon action plan were discussed during the teleconference.

The collectors were told to take all precautionary measures to ensure that paddy procurement is not affected due to unseasonal rain.

Pointing out that the early rains is resulting in the stepping up of preparatory agriculture activities by the farmers, CS informed the collectors that adequate quantities of DAP, Complexes, Seeds are available in the state. He directed the collectors to conduct the task force meetings on curtailing the menace of spurious cotton seeds immediately and a strong message should be sent across that action will be taken against those indulging in supply and sale of spurious seeds. 

Revenue (Disaster Management) Special Chief Secretary Arvind Kumar informed the collectors about the weather conditions in the state in view of the low pressure in the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal which is going to cause heavy rainfall over the next three days. He also cautioned that moderate to heavy rains are expected in all the districts of the state during the next ten days.

Civil Supplies Principal Secretary D.S.Chauhan, GHMC Commissioner RV Karnan, Agriculture Director Gopi, HMWSSB MD Ashok Reddy and other officials attended the teleconference.