In early August, massive flooding along the Budhabalanga River in Balasore inundated thousands of hectares of shrimp aquaculture ponds, causing extensive damage to local shrimp farms. Floodwaters disrupted farming operations and resulted in the loss of shrimp stocks and investments made by farmers.
With their ponds affected, many shrimp farmers were reportedly forced to conduct premature distress sales of undersized shrimp at low prices to recover at least part of their basic investment costs. The situation has placed significant financial pressure on the aquaculture community, with farmers facing losses from both damaged ponds and reduced returns from their produce.