Crops on 1 lakh hectares damaged by unseasonal rains in Maharashtra: Initial assessment

Nearly 1 lakh hectares of land under cultivation in different parts of Maharashtra has been adversely affected due to unseasonal rains over the last few days, Chief Minister Eknath Shinde has said, citing a preliminary assessment. Two persons have died in rain-related incidents in Nashik district in north Maharashtra, a senior official said.

Affected farmers will get compensation for crop losses caused by unseasonal rains, the CM said. "Authorities have been directed to conduct 'panchnama' (survey) of the damaged crops and affected farmers should be paid adequate compensation," Shinde told reporters in his political turf of Thane on Monday. He said preliminary information suggests that nearly 1 lakh hectares of land under cultivation in Marathwada, Vidarbha and north Maharashtra regions were affected due to untimely showers. "This is the government of farmers and workers. The government will always stand behind these classes," the chief minister said.

The first estimate report prepared by the state disaster management and relief department indicated the actual extent of damage to crops may top 1 lakh hectares. Heavy rains along with hailstorms affected crops ranging from grapes to vegetables in 16 districts, it said. “The primary estimation shows crops spread over 99,381 hectares of agricultural land were affected. These include cash crops like cotton, onion and grapes along with other conventional agri products," it said.

Out of the 16 affected districts, Nashik, a major hub of onion and grape cultivation, suffered maximum crop losses, according to the report. “The primary estimation suggests crops spread over 32,833 hectares were affected (in Nashik) and these included grape and onion. With 15,307 hectares, Ahmednagar district was the second most affected district. Banana and papaya plantations and corn crops suffered major damage," it said.

State rehabilitation and disaster management minister Anil Patil on Tuesday gave instructions to officials to fast-track 'panchanama' of the damage to crops due to unseasonal rain in Nashik district and submit final report to the government in a week. Patil said submission of the final report will help in speeding up the process to provide compensation to affected farmers.
"The government is always supportive of farmers and this (crop damage survey) will speed up the process to give help to farmers. Precaution should be taken to ensure 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 farmers' welfare,” he said.

Patil was speaking at a meeting held at the Nashik district collectorate to review crop losses. On November 26, out of the 152 revenue zones in Nashik district, 66 received more than 25 mm rainfall whereas Vehelgaon taluka in the Nandgaon zone recorded precipitation in excess of 66 mm. As per the preliminary estimate, due to unseasonal rains in Nashik district, as many as 11,652 hectares of grape plantation, and 10,673 hectares of onion and pomegranate plantations, among other crops, have suffered damage.

Around 924 villages in the district have been affected and 70,000 farmers have suffered losses, according to the estimate.
Two persons, one each in Niphad and Balgan talukas of Nashik district, died in rain-related incidents and their kin will be given Rs 4 lakh financial aid each, resident deputy collector Rajendra Wagh informed the meeting. Due to untimely showers, 15 big and 50 small animals died, while 206 houses suffered partial and 31 homes complete damage in the district, Wagh said.

District collector Jalaj Sharma said if farmers are left out in the crop damage assessment survey, they can contact the local administration and get the exercise done by officials. Union minister Kapil Patil on Tuesday urged CM Shinde to expedite the assessment of damage caused to crops by rain and hailstorms in his Lok Sabha constituency Bhiwandi in Thane district. In a letter addressed to the chief minister, he said crops in Bhiwandi, Shahapur, Murbad and Wada talukas of Thane district have suffered heavy losses and the paddy thrashing work was also affected. He urged the CM to order financial relief for the affected farmers.