The wait of farmers from Kolhapur, Sangli and Satara districts to get the compensation for the crops damaged due to floods is finally over. The state government has released the compensation to the respective district collectors. 

For Kolhapur, Rs 85.70 crore have been released, Rs 52.75 crore for Sangli and Rs 8.01 crore for Satara. Crops over 1.5 lakh hectares were damaged in these three districts due to the flood in July. 

The government order mentions that the compensation amount has been calculated as per state disaster response fund (SDRF) criteria. Large tracts of sugar cane, vegetable and fruit crops were damaged in these districts. 

The farmers' leaders and farmers are upset with the government for not accepting their demand for compensation as per the policy adopted by the state government after 2019 floods. The then BJP-led government had granted the compensation triple that of the SDRF rules for the farmers without loan. Also the crop loans of the farmers were waived.

Farmers' leader Raju Shetti had steered an agitation in August and September demanding compensation as per 2019 policy and total crop loan waiver. 

He had also saged protests and even walked along the Panchganga river to get Jal Samadhi at Narsinhawadi confluence, where he was obstructed and got a message from chief minister Uddhav Thackeray to arrive for discussion.

 "This is sheer betrayal of the farmers. The release of compensation amount was delayed. The amount has come after two and half months of floods. During this period, the farmers, who lost their livelihood, have gone through severe pain. I was right when I hit the streets. I was aware that the MVA government is going to put just a penny in the hands of the farmers for their loss." 

He claimed that the the compensation approved is less than the actual estimates the district agriculture department had worked out. For instance, Kolhapur administration had estimated loss of Rs 95 crore to the crop and farm lands. 

Kolhapur's agriculture superintendent Dyandeo Wakure said, “Earlier, we received around Rs 3.5 crore for compensating damage to farm land. So far, around Rs 90 crore have been received. We expect the rest of the amount to be released soon."

Source - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com