Kendrapada: Flood-hit farmers on Wednesday gheraoed the tehsil office at Aul demanding compensation for crop losses caused by the month-long flood during transplantation. Carrying rotten paddy saplings, they demanded compensation, seed kits for the next season and waiver of agricultural loans. “We gheraoed the tehsil office with rotten paddy crops to draw govt’s attention to our problems,” said Ranjit Behera, a farmer from Balakati village. They said paddy saplings were damaged in several areas. “Angered by officials’ indifference, we protested at the Aul tehsil office. Tehsildar Suman Ghosh interacted with us and assured us of assistance,” said Pradeep Mallick of Gobindapur village.Narendra Rout of Ranipokhsari said his three acres of paddy land remained submerged under knee-deep water. “I planted paddy saplings two months ago, but the floodwater destroyed all of them. We are groping in the dark now as we have lost our paddy saplings,” said Bhagabat Das of Nagapada.The district Krushak Sabha demanded that Kendrapada be declared flood-affected and sought compensation. “We visited different blocks of the district to assess the crop situation and found that paddy saplings have been destroyed in several areas. We have demanded a waiver of crop loans for farmers who suffered losses,” said district president Umesh Chandra Singh.Collector (Kendrapada) Raghuram R Iyer said extension officers were assessing losses. “All affected farmers will receive compensation soon,” he said, urging them to submit crop-loss details to block agricultural officers.