Hailstorm causes losses to crops in 72 Rewari villages
Ravinder Saini
Rewari, April 2
A preliminary survey conducted by the local office of the Agriculture and Farmers Welfare Department has assessed tentative losses to wheat and mustard crops spread over 7,500 acres in 72 villages of the district. A hailstorm coupled with torrential rain and high-velocity winds lashed the region on Friday evening.
Register crop losses on e-Kshatipurti portal
Dr Jitendra Ahlawat, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Rewari, said the state government had opened an online e-Kshatipurti portal for the farmers having no insurance cover to register their crop losses for getting compensation as per policy. They should upload the crop loss details by April 6
Our hopes have been dashed
We were expecting a bumper yield of wheat this time as the crop was growing well but the hailstorm dashed our hopes by causing extensive damage. I have no insurance cover so the state government should provide me adequate compensation. — Surendra, A farmer
“The Dharuhera and Rewari blocks were worst affected by the natural calamity. Khatauli, Rajpura, Aakera, Gujjar Ghatal, Kapriwas, Joniawas, Maalpura, Dhakiya, Malhera, Ramgarh, Bhagwanpur, Masani and Kharkara were among the villages where extensive crop losses have been reported,” said sources.
Sources said around 95 per cent losses had been witnessed in the wheat crop while remaining 5 per cent in mustard as it was already harvested in all parts of the district. Only late sowing mustard was standing in the fields when the hailstorm wreaked havoc over it.
As per the official information, up to 75 per cent crop losses have been reported in 500 acres, upto 50 per cent in 3,000 acres, while less than 25 per cent in 4,000 acres but the farmers claim that the losses are multiple times of the official figure.
“We were expecting a bumper yield of wheat this time as the crop was growing well but the hailstorm dashed our hopes by causing extensive damage. I have no insurance cover so the state government should provide me with adequate compensation.” said Surendra, a farmer.
Kanwar Singh, another distressed farmer from Rajpura, said the wheat sown over 10 acres and tomato over one acre had suffered heavy losses due to the natural calamity.
“More than 80 per cent losses to the wheat crop have been estimated over 200 acres and over 50 per cent in 100 acres of our village. Similar is the situation in the nearby villages as well,” he added.
Dr Jitendra Ahlawat, Deputy Director (Agriculture), Rewari, said the state government had opened an online e-Kshatipurti portal for the farmers having no insurance cover to register their crop losses for getting compensation as per policy. They should upload the crop loss details by April 6.
He said the farmers enrolled under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Beema Yojana would be compensated by the insurance company after carrying out surveys to assess the actual losses.
Meanwhile, local Congress MLA Chiranjeev Rao visited the affected villages to take stock of the situation. He demanded that the state government should provide Rs 50,000 per acre as compensation to the affected farmers for bailing them out of this crisis.
“The farmers are already reeling under the crisis due to the rising input cost and minimum prices for their crop yield while this natural calamity has now broken their back by damaging their standing crops. Now, it is the responsibility of the state government to come forward to help them,” Rao added.
