The Maharashtra Government on Wednesday decided to seek a compensation of Rs 200 crore from the Centre for heavy damage caused to standing crops in the State in the wake of unseasonal rains and hailstorm that lashed many parts of Marathwada, Vidarbha and north Maharashtra during the weekend.
Announcing this at a news conference here, Maharashtra Agriculture Minister Pandhurang Fundkar said: “Owing unseasonal rains and hail storm reported from various parts of the State till yesterday, crops on a total 1.90 lakh hectares of land has been destroyed. In all, 1800 villages have been affected by the natural calamity”.
According to the preliminary estimates prepared by the State revenue department, unseasonal rains and hail storm wreaked havoc on Saturday and Surday. “On these two days itself, crops on a total land of 1,27, 322 hectares of land located in 61 talukas in 16 districts of the State have borne maximum brunt,” the Minister said.
At its customary weekly meeting, the State Cabinet took stock of the losses suffered by farmers in various parts of the state because of the unseasonal rains and hail storm, which have become a common feature in the State in recent years.
Fundkar said that he had not yet received reports of crop losses from the districts of Buldhana, Nanded, Bhandara, Gadchiroli, Chandrapur and Wardha, which were battered by unseasonal rains on Tuesday.
“Taking into consideration the preliminary estimates of crop losses, we have decided to make a request for a financial Rs 200 crore from the Centre to pay compensation to the affected farmers,” Fundkar said.
The Minister said that at its Wednesday’s meeting, the State Cabinet had devised norms to extend compensation to the affected farmers. “The compensation will range between Rs 6800-Rs 13,500 per hectare for cereals and between Rs 23,300-Rs 40,000 for various fruits or horticulture if they are insured,” he said. “For orange, a compensation of Rs 23,300 per hectare of destroyed crop, while for bananas we intend to give a compensation of 40,000 per hectare of crop. For Mango and lemon, we will give a compensation of Rs 36,700 per hectare and Rs 20,000 per hectare of destroyed crop respectively,” Fundkar said.
However, for farmers who have not taken insurance for their crops, the State Government would give a maximum of 18,000 per hectare of damaged crops.