Vidarbha and Marathwada region witnessed heavy hailstorm activity and unseasonal rains on February 11 and 12. Thus, they landed as black days for the farmers of Maharashtra. Due to this weather activity, Rabi crops sown in around 2 lakh hectares were completely devastated.
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The hailstorm activity affected around 1,800 villages from 16 districts, which were of majorly Marathwada and Vidarbha region. As per the officials of agriculture department, reports from further 10 districts are likely to come until Thursday.
The most severely affected district was Jalna in Marathwada where crop damage was estimated at about 32,000 hectares. Moreover, Buldhana and Amravati in Vidarbha witnessed crop damage of around 32,700 hectares and 26,598 hectares, respectively.
In the wake of losses and destruction, Maharashtra state government has asked for a sum of 200 crore to compensate the losses of the farmers from the Modi government.
As per the authorities, the final figures of the losses are still awaited hence the number may rise. The affected farmers would thereafter get the compensation as per the standards of National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF).
As per state agriculture minister, Pandurang Fundkar, the central government has been informed about the status of damage in the state which occurred due to hailstorm and unseasonal rains.
Fundkar also stated that as per the norms, the farmers who cultivate crops on non-irrigated land will get compensation of rupees 6,800 per hectare and only of up to two hectares, for damage due to any natural calamities.
However, for the irrigated land, farmers are eligible to get a compensation of rupees 13,500 per hectare. Meanwhile, for the horticulture or perennial crops, farmers will get rupees 18,000 per hectare.
As per Skymet Weather, the weather over Maharashtra is now likely to remain clear and dry. Therefore, any such activity like hailstorm or rain which causes harm to the crops is not anticipated for the next few days.
IMAGE CREDITS: Wikipedia
Any information taken from here should be credited to skymetweather.com
