Unseasonal rain damages crops in 28 Maharashtra districts

Woes of the agrarian community seem to be unending. After drought, farmers in around 28 of the 36 districts in the state have been badly affected by the unseasonal

Woes of the agrarian community seem to be unending. After drought, farmers in around 28 of the 36 districts in the state have been badly affected by the unseasonal rain, which has damaged crops. The state government has directed the district collectors to start conducting panchnamas for the damage, which would enable them to ascertain the total crop loss across the state.

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Union home minister Amit Shah has assured governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari that a team from the Centre will soon be sent to the state to assess the losses. The assurance was given after the governor called up Shah to apprise him about the damages.

Earlier on Thursday, Koshyari had said he will speak to the Central government to provide quick relief and assistance to farmers affected by the unseasonal downpour. “I will request the Centre to send a team of experts to assess the losses caused by the recent spell of unseasonal rains, so that the affected farmers could be provided relief quickly,” Koshyari said, while speaking to a delegation of Shiv Sena legislators at Raj Bhavan on Thursday. The Sena delegation, led by Yuva Sena chief Aaditya Thackeray, presented a memorandum to the governor and sought his intervention to offer quick relief to farmers.

Meanwhile, the Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) has demanded that wet drought be declared in the state, which would enable farmers to get compensation. NCP chief Sharad Pawar also declared a tour to the affected villages in Parbhani and Hingoli districts of the Marathwada region on November 6. A joint delegation of Congress and NCP leaders is also expected to meet the governor in a day or two to demand monetary help for the farmers.

For almost a fortnight now, all regions of the state have received post-monsoon downpour, which damaged crops. Marathwada is said to be the most affected. The heavy rainfall in the state was also attributed to cyclone Kyarr. “Around 28 to 29 districts are likely to be affected by the rainfall, ultimately inflicting damages on the crop. We have asked district collectors to conduct panchnamas to ascertain the losses. The panchnamas will be completed in the next eight days, after which we will come to know the extent of damage,” said Kishorraje Nimbalkar, secretary, state relief and rehabilitation department. “The state government has enough funds to help farmers by giving them compensation. However, the amount of compensation will have to be decided by the chief minister,” he said.

In November 2018, the state had declared a drought in 26 of the 36 districts of the state. Of the total 43,800 villages in the state, more than 28,000 were found to be affected. As many as 151 tehsils, covering around 17,984 villages, were declared drought-hit under the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF) norm and more than 10,000 villages in 268 revenue circles, which were not eligible as per NDRF norms, were given relief by the state from its own kitty. Around 82.27 lakh farmers and 85.76 hectares of land were hit by the drought.

Maharashtra has faced three droughts in the past five years.