Unseasonal rains accompanied by heavy hailstorms have ruined the standing Rabi crops in Madhya Pradesh on a large scale. Nearly 10,000 villages in the State have been affected by the sudden change in weather. Even as Shivraj Singh Chouhan led Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Government of the State has announced Rs2,000 crore relief package for those affected.
For Amar Singh, the night of February 27 came as nightmare. He owns 50 acres of land in the Kolukedi village near Bhopal and the hailstorm ruined his crop. The helpless farmer now wonders how he will earn a livelihood for his big family.
"Farmers are literally killed. First soybean and now wheat crops have been destroyed due to natural calamity. How will we surviveIJ We have no option but to end our life," says a beleaguered Amar.Another farmer Hari Singh says, "Hailstones were unprecedented, weighing up to 250gms like a ball."
Angry farmers across Madhya Pradesh are agitating against the State Government, accusing it of not assessing the true extent of the disaster. Some farmers have taken along truck trolleys filled with hailstones and photos of their damaged farms as proof.
"We have come with a trolley filled with hailstones. The Government officers are making assessment of crop damage of just 20 per cent. Actually cent per cent loss is there if you go and see inside the farm," says Balveer Dangi, farmer, Barodi. According to the MeT department, such monsoon like weather in February is unusual.
DP Dubey of MeT department says, "This year we have got a lot of abnormal activities. Gwalior has reported 7 cm rainfall in 24 hours which is highest in 114 years. Similarly Bhopal has broken record of 90 years."