The district administration has instructed officials of the Revenue and Agriculture Departments to submit reports of a girdawari announced by the state government for assessment of crop loss due to recent rains before April 14.

Deputy Commissioner Harpreet Singh Sudan has also instructed the patwaris and other employees concerned to prepare an assessment report after inspecting all the fields under their respective jurisdiction.

Officials of the Revenue Department are required to take into account the loss suffered by fodder, vegetables and other crops. “The government aims to release the compensation amount as and when the harvesting begins. And this is only possible if the required report is submitted at the earliest,” said Sudan.

The DC said as per a preliminary assessment, the crops suffered damages in the range of 10 per cent to 100 per cent. The farmers would be paid compensation as per the damage caused to their crops in their fields.

The DC said no laxity in conducting the exercise would be tolerated. He also asked senior officials to ensure that the girdawari was done in a fair and impartial manner.

The crops, especially wheat, had suffered huge damages due to heavy rains and hailstorm. Farmers had reported widespread flattening of wheat crop, which not only would decrease the yield, but also have adverse effects on the quality of grains.

The government had earlier announced a compensation of Rs 15,000 per acre for 100 per cent loss of wheat crop. However, the farmers were also demanding from the government to increase their compensation as they reasoned that with the relief amount announced they would not be able to recover their input costs.

Source - https://www.tribuneindia.com