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Now, hail rains over farmers’ parade as crop losses begin to mount
Mandeep Kumar, a farmer from Khranti village in Rohtak, said they were preparing to harvest the wheat, but the produce was damaged due to strong winds, hailstorm and rain
The heavy hailstorm on Saturday evening adversely affected the farmers, damaging their wheat crop. Hail and rain lashed the region on Saturday evening, hitting the crops in Rohtak, Mahendergarh, Jhajjar, and some other pockets of the state.
Mandeep Kumar, a farmer from Khranti village in Rohtak, said they were preparing to harvest the wheat, but the produce was damaged due to strong winds, hailstorm and rain.
“We have suffered a loss of more than 95% and we are small farmers, how will we repay the loan taken from banks and moneylenders? As our crops are damaged, how would we survive,” he added.
Rakesh Yadav, a farmer from Kanina in Mahendergarh, echoed the sentiment, saying the hailstorm accompanied by rainfall lashed for more than 30 minutes damaged their entire crop, adding, “We had fear of a hailstorm and it lashed this evening, causing widespread damage to all standing crops. We will meet the Deputy Commissioner tomorrow and urge him to provide us financial assistance for our crops.”
Looking ahead, Daya Kaur, a farmer from Nindana village, said the government should conduct a survey to assess their crop loss and provide financial assistance to them as soon as possible.
“The fully ripened wheat crop was damaged due to hailstorm and we could not face this situation as our entire earning has been snatched by hailstorm. How, I would bear expenses of my children’s education, medical and money, which I have to pay to a shopkeeper, from whom I purchased fertiliser, seed and other things,” she added.
Farmers reach Hisar DC office with bags full of hail
A group of farmers from Ladvi, Siswal, Milapur and Jakhod Khera villages in Hisar reached outside the deputy commissioner Uttam Singh’s office while carrying bags filled with hail.
Mange Ram Nambardar, said the inclement weather had damaged wheat and fully ripened mustard crops in their village and other neighbouring areas, adding, “The government should open the portal so that we can register our crop and lodge our grievances. The government should provide us ₹50,000 per acre compensation.”
Addressing the issue, Hisar deputy commissioner Uttam Singh said the government has reopened their online portal and farmers should first register their crop and then lodge their complaints about damages.
Haryana chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar, meanwhile, also assured the farmers that the compensation will be provided in the accounts of the affected farmers by May.
