Farmers worried as Met predicts heavy rain in next 100 hours

Bhanu P Lohumi

Tribune News Service

Shimla, March 31

Farmers facing the vagaries of weather for the past two weeks are on tenterhooks as the Met office has predicted heavy rain and thunderstorm, accompanied with hailstorm in mid and lower hills of Himachal over the next 100 hours.

Mid and lower hills suffered extensive damage to rabi crops and stone-fruit crops due to rain, thundershower and hailstorm. Moreover, the prediction of continuation of stormy conditions for the next 100 hours is giving sleepless nights to farmers.

Rabi crop is ripening in lower hills and ready for harvesting, while stone-fruit crop is in its flowering stage and hailstorm at this time is considered devastating for crops.

A Central team headed by Union Health Minister Jagat Prakash Nadda and Union Minister of Agriculture, Radha Mohan Singh arrived here today to take stock of the situation and the state government has also asked the districts and departments to send a detailed report about damage and loss.

Wheat crop has flattened at several places in lower hills, while heavy damage was caused to stone-fruit crops in Shimla region.

The Agriculture Department was hopeful that rain and stormy conditions would abate and rabi targets would be achieved. It not only continued but turned fiercer adding to the anxiety of farmers and experts.

Several areas in mid and lower hills were lashed by intermittent heavy rain and thundershower, causing marginal drop in the mercury.

Berthin in Bilaspur district was the wettest in the region with 22 mm rain, followed by Kheri 19 mm, Gohar and Shimla 18 mm, Gaggal 12 mm, Jhandutta and Nurpur 10 mm, Mandi 9 mm, Dharamsala, Pandoh and Sunnibhaji 8 mm each.

Himachal received 81 per cent excess rain during the month of March and Sirmaur, Una, Solan and Bilaspur received 393, 387, 308 and 264 per cent excess rain during the month completely wiping out the monsoon deficit of 38 per cent. Hamirpur received 152 per cent excess rain, followed by Kangra (108 per cent), Kinnaur (100 per cent) Mandi (89 per cent), Shimla (86 per cent), Chamba (85 per cent ) and Kullu (65 per cent).

Una was the hottest during the day with a maximum of 29.4°C.