Six more districts in Maharashtra have been hit by hailstorms and unseasonal rain, taking the count to 22 districts and increasing the area under crop damage by three times from 1,32,272 hectares to 3,93,325 hectares. The crop damage is expected to go up as reports from the western part of the district are still awaited.

The rise in the affected area will result in an increase in the financial burden for compensation on the state exchequer leading to a rise in the prices of onions and vegetables due to the shortage.

The State cabinet on Wednesday reviewed the crop damage due to hailstorms and unseasonal rain and decided to give compensation for crop loss on 3 hectares of land instead of the current 2 hectares.

As per the primary report, the cabinet was informed that the hailstorm had damaged 1,30,272 hectares of crops in 16 districts. But in the last 48 hours, rain hit six more districts and as per the report shared by the Chief Minister Office (CMO) on Thursday, around 3,93,325 hectares of crops have been damaged in 22 districts across the state.

Yawatmal district in Vidarbha region is most affected with 1,26,438 hectares damaged due to the unseasonal rain. The rains also hit areas in Hingoli, Sambhaji Nagar, Jalana, and Palghar districts. The damaged crop includes vegetables, grapes, onions, cotton, gram, and toor (pigeon pea). Besides, banana cultivation and crops of paddy, wheat, and chilly are also damaged in several districts.

“The areas affected by rain will increase further as the primary reports from districts like Solapur and Sangli are yet to come. The rise in the area affected by rain will result in the amount of compensation to be given to farmers. Besides that, the prices of some agricultural commodities like onion and vegetables will rise in the coming days due to short supply,” said an official from the agricultural department.

Leader of opposition in assembly Vijay Wadettiwar on Thursday visited rain-affected areas in Jalana and Buldhana district and met the farmers who lost their crops. Wadettiwar later demanded that the government should announce a loan waiver and electricity bill waiver scheme for farmers to give them some relief. “Farmers have lost their crops due to natural calamity, and their loan should be waived. There should not be any collection of electricity bills from farmers as they are not in a position to pay it,” said Wadettiwar.

Source - https://www.hindustantimes.com