Nearly 1 lakh hectares of land under cultivation in various parts of Maharashtra was adversely affected due to unseasonal rainfall in the last three to four days, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde said, citing a preliminary assessment.
Two persons were killed in rain-related incidents in north Maharashtra’s Nashik district, a senior official said.
The CM said affected farmers will get compensation for crop losses caused by unusual rainfall.
“The authorities have been directed to conduct ‘panchnama’ (survey) on the damaged crops and the affected farmers should be given adequate compensation,” Shinde said on Monday while talking to reporters in his political area of Thane.
He said preliminary information indicates that nearly 1 lakh hectares of land under cultivation in Marathwada, Vidarbha and North Maharashtra regions have been affected by untimely rains.
“This is the government of farmers and workers. The government will always stand with these classes,” the Prime Minister said.
In Mumbai, the first assessment report prepared by the state Disaster Management and Relief Department indicated that the actual extent of crop damage could be more than 1 lakh hectares.
Heavy rains and hailstorms have affected crops ranging from grapes to vegetables in 16 districts.
According to the primary estimate, crops spread over 99,381 hectares of agricultural land have been affected. These include cash crops such as cotton, onions and grapes, along with other conventional agricultural products,” the report said.
Of the 16 affected districts, Nashik, a major center of onion and grape cultivation, suffered maximum crop losses, the report said.
The primary estimate suggests that crops spread over 32,833 hectares were affected (in Nashik), including grapes and onions. At 15,307 hectares, Ahmednagar district was the second worst affected district. Banana and papaya plantations and corn crops suffered extensive damage,” the report said.
State Rehabilitation and Disaster Management Minister Anil Patil on Tuesday issued instructions to officials to fast track crop damage due to unseasonal rain in Nashik district and submit a final report to the government within a week.
Anil Patil said the submission of the final report will help speed up the process of providing compensation to affected farmers.
“The government always supports farmers and this (crop damage survey) will speed up the process of providing relief to farmers. Precautions should be taken to ensure that no farmer is left out while conducting the panchanama. After receiving the final report, detailed discussions will be held with the Chief Minister and Deputy CMs, and measures will be taken for the welfare of farmers, he noted:
Anil Patil was speaking at a meeting at the Nashik district collectorate to discuss crop losses.
On Sunday (November 26), of the 152 revenue zones in Nashik district, 66 received rainfall of more than 25 mm, while Vehelgaon taluka in Nandgaon zone recorded rainfall of more than 25 mm.
66mm.
As per the preliminary estimate, due to unseasonal rainfall in Nashik district, as many as 11,652 hectares of grapes, 10,673 hectares of onions and pomegranates have been damaged.
According to the estimate, around 924 villages in the district have been affected and 70,000 farmers have suffered losses.
Two persons, one each in Niphad and Balgan talukas of Nashik district, died in rain-related incidents and their relatives will be given Rs 4 lakh financial assistance each, Deputy Collector Rajendra Wagh informed the meeting.
Due to untimely rains, 15 large and 50 small animals died, while 206 houses suffered partial and 31 houses complete damage in the district, Wagh said.
District Collector Jalaj Sharma said if farmers are left out in the crop damage survey, they can contact the local government and get the exercise done by officials.
Meanwhile, Minister Kapil Patil on Tuesday urged CM Shinde to expedite assessment of damage to crops due to rain and hailstorms in his Lok Sabha constituency Bhiwandi in Thane district.
In a letter to the Chief Minister, he said crops in Bhiwandi, Shahapur, Murbad and Wada talukas of Thane district suffered heavy losses and paddy destruction work was also affected.
The Union minister urged the CM to order financial relief for the affected farmers.
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