Hailstorm wreaks havoc on apple, stone fruit, pea crops in Mandi district

Mandi, May 26

A hailstorm has caused considerable damage to apple, pear and stone fruit as well as pea crop in the Seraj area of the district in the past two days.

According to area farmers, the weather turned inclement and a heavy hailstorm along with rain lashed the region.

Khem Singh, vice-pradhan, Thunag Gram Panchayat, said a heavy hailstorm occurred in the panchayat area in the past two days, badly damaging apple, pear and stone fruit crops.

MeT ‘yellow’ alert from today

• Light to moderate rain lashed several parts of the state on Friday
• The MeT office issued a ‘yellow’ alert for thunderstorms and lightning at isolated places in 10 districts from May 27 to 30
• Kukumseri was coldest at 2.4 degrees Celsius on Thursday night while Una recorded a maximum temperature of 32.2 degrees Celsius
• Following inclement weather conditions over the past few days, nine roads have been closed to traffic in the state
• The state received 70% excess rains in May this year as 92.1 mm of rain has been recorded during the month against normal rainfall of 54.3 mm from May 1 to May 26

Gulab Singh, Pradhan, Behlidhar gram panchayat, said, “A heavy hailstorm damaged the apple and pea crops, which were ready for harvesting. Now, the area farmers are upset as these crops are the only source of their livelihood.”

The farmers said the Horticulture and Agriculture Departments should assess the losses and send a detailed report to the state government for the disbursement of compensation.

Sanjay Kumar Gupta, Deputy Director, Horticulture Department, Mandi, said, “We got to know about the crop damage due to a hailstorm in different parts of the district in the past two days. So, the field officers have been asked to collect detailed information about the crop loss. Within a few days, the report of crop loss will be prepared and sent to the higher authorities in Shimla for further action.”

“This year, inclement weather has done considerable damage to apple orchards in the district,” he added.