Cyclone Ockhi: Impact has not affected crops in Tamil Nadu, Kerala

The impact of cyclone Ockhi on crops so far has not been significant in Tamil Nadu, Kerala and other coastal areas, Agriculture Secretary S K Pattanayak said today.

However, the coastal states/UTs have been asked to assess the damage and send a detailed report to the centre. The extent of damage would be known after the assessment, he said.

"The damage on crops has been slightly, not much. The cyclone has fizzled out by the time it reached Gujarat. We are still assessing the damage," Pattanayak told PTI.

There has not been significant impact on crops in Kerala, Tamil Nadu and parts of Maharashtra. "However, we have alerted them to send a detailed report," he said.

Last week, cyclone Ockhi battered the coastal areas of the southern states, flooding farmland and damaging houses.

The cyclone storm brought heavy rains and some areas suffered extensive crop damage due to strong wind that uprooted coconut trees and other plantation crops.

According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Ockhi has weakened into a deep depression early this morning and lay centred over west-central part of Bay of Bengal near Odisha and Andhra Pradesh.

"It is likely to maintain intensity of deep depression for about 12 hours and weaken gradually into a depression during subsequent 12 hours," it said in a statement.

IMD said it is very likely to move north-northwestwards and reach north Andhra Pradesh and south Odisha coasts around December 9 morning as a depression, it added.