Hailstone occurred at Beni and its surrounding areas on Thursday evening has damaged crops and vegetables worth millions of rupees. The hailstone damaged winter crops, vegetables, fruits and potato farming at different places of Beni municipality and Jaljala rural municipality. A farmer Eknarayan Poudel expressed worry, saying the hailstone damaged the wheat, barley and potato crops, ready for harvest, of worth of millions of rupees. Property worth around Rs 20 million was damaged at Dhairing alone by the hailstone, said Poudel. A heavy hailstone had taken place at Khabara, Beni, Anandabagar, Milanchowk, Mallaj, Banskharka, Lekphant and Shalija areas on Thursday evening. The farmers have demanded arrangement of relief after evaluating the damage caused by hailstone and implementation of crop insurance programme. Source - https://kathmandutribune.com