Maharashtra: Crops on almost 1 lakh hectares damaged by unseasonal rain
MUMBAI: The unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm over the last two days has damaged crops on 99,381 hectares of land in Maharashtra , according to preliminary estimates.
Both agriculture and horticulture crops are facing extensive damage especially in North Maharashtra, Marathwada and Vidarbha.
This comes at a time when state’s farmers are already grappling with a drought in 40 talukas in the state.
The crops that have been affected include grapes, paddy, bananas, onions, soyabean, cotton and sugarcane.
Nasik district and Buldhana are among the worst affected.
However, the damage is spread across Thane, Palghar, Ahmednagar, Jalna, Parbhani, Nanded, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Jalgaon and Pune district.
Chief minister Eknath Shinde has directed the administration to conduct the panchnamas of these areas.
In cases where the damages exceeded 33 percent, proposals for seeking compensation should be submitted to the government at the earliest, he said.
Nasik district is facing damages on 32,833 hectares of crops including onions, grapes, soyabean, maize, wheat, sugarcane and fruits. Vegetable crops in 33,951 hectares of land in Buldhana district have been damaged.
The Opposition has hit out at chief minister Shinde for campaigning for the Telangana polls at a time when the state faces extensive crop damage.
“The leaders of the state are campaigning in Telangana and claim to be monitoring the crop damage caused by the unseasonal rains from there,” said Leader of Opposition in the state assembly Vijay Wadettiwar.
Shiv Sena (UBT) leader Uddhav Thackeray also attacked Shinde for campaigning in Telangana during the crisis. “Instead of going to other states, why isn’t the chief minister looking after his own house and his own state?” asked Thackeray.
He added, “If your coffers will only open when Maharashtra faces elections, how will the state’s farmers manage till then?”
NCP MP Supriya Sule also demanded that panchnamas for the damaged crops be conducted immediately and that the Centre declare a package for the drought-affected farmers.
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