No village in the district stands to get monetary compensation in case the governement decides to provide for crop damage in the area. The district collector on Tuesday stated in a report that no village in the district is having severe crop condition; hence, all the villages are above 50% paisewari. That means, iIf the government decides to provide compensate farmers, it will not include a single village from Kolhapur as the paisewari here is more than 50%. Farmers have demanded a review of the damage assessment method (paisewari) used for agricultural crops, arguing that the formula used has reflected lesser losses than the actual ones. They also said that lowering ground water level and poor rainfall are going to result in reduced yield, leading to losses. But it is not reflected in the assessment, claimed Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna. which is a part of the ruling alliance. District collector Amit Saini said that his office has received complaints from villagers regarding the valuation and damage assessment. "We had asked the officials to conduct the actual assessment of villages, where the actual crop condition is not that bad. Hence, in paisewari these villages have faired well. If the ground reality is not that bad, it will reflect in the papersaccordingly," he said. The report, a copy of which is with TOI, states that 1,233 villages across 12 talukas of the district were selected for paisewari. Bhagwan Kate, district head of the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatna said, "Tehsils like Ajara, Chandgad, Gadhinglaj, Kagal, Hatkanangale and Shirol have major issues related to the method of damage assessment. The revenue department has maintained that the 'anewari' of the villages from these tehsils is slightly above 50%, which means 40% to 45% crop damage. As per the state's compensation formula, there should be more than 50% visible damage of the crop in the farm to make it eligible for monetary compensation. We objected because though the crops look fine in the field, unfavourable conditions like sudden change in temperature, poor rainfall and excess rainfall in a short period will affect the yield." Shekhar Patil, sarpanch of Dharangutti village in Shirol tehsil said villages in Shirol tehsil were not facing water scarcity and there was no issue of water supply to farms as well. "The revenue officials also claimed that though the rainfall was poor, crops in Shirol are not damaged much; hence no compensation for farmers. Meanwhile, the neighbouring villages in Miraj tehsil, which are separated from Shirol by the Krishna river, are facing water scarcity. Their anewari is lower than 50% so these villages are eligible for compensation... It shows that different rules are being applied for different villages." The Ground Water Surveys Authority has stated that water level in the district has lowered by 0.86m this year. Shahuwadi tehsil reported maximum depletion of 1.49m, followed by Hatkanangale (1.26m), Chandgad (1.14m), and Shirol (1.02m). Source - http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com