Punjab Chief Minister Capt Amarinder Singh has ordered a special girdawari (surveyorship) to assess the damage caused to the wheat crop due to hailstorm and unseasonal rain across the state.
All the Deputy Commissioners have been directed to get the losses incurred by the farmers ascertained immediately to ensure adequate and timely compensation for them.
They are also instructed to initiate the assessment process particularly in regions from where reports of damage to the Rabi wheat crop have been received.
The State Government was fully committed to adequately compensating the farmers for any losses suffered due to vagaries of the weather, said the official spokesperson.
In a sudden change in the weather conditions ending almost month long dry spell that led to rise in mercury, rain coupled with hailstorm, and gusty winds lashed the region in past two days.
As the rains came as a boon for the residents of Punjab who were sweating under the rising mercury levels, on the other hand, it played havoc on the standing crops in the state.
The untimely rains and hailstorm created a chaotic situation amongst the farmers who invest his blood and sweat on the crop field. Most of the wheat crops, sunflower crops and other vegetable crops spread over thousands of acre of fields wore the brunt of the hailstorm.
The un-occasional hailstorm hampered the grain quality of the wheat crop. The hailstorm also flattened the standing wheat crop and crushed them lying on the field.