Moderate showers accompanied with hailstorm were witnessed at many places in the country. The sudden spell of rain and hailstorm has left farmers jittery as they fear further crop damage.
In the rural areas in Alwar and Bharatpur districts, farmers were anxious after seeing lemon sized hail which affected their crops being damaged. Hailstones also lashed Chaksu in Jaipur on Wednesday, damaging standing crops in fields.
Many parts of Uttar Pradesh, including Lucknow, were lashed by rain and hailstorm. Chief minister Yogi Adityanth directed officials across the district to assess the damage to crops by hailstorm and provide immediate relief to farmers, said a state government spokesperson.
Untimely rains accompanied by strong winds and hailstorm have flattened wheat, mustard, barley and other crops across Bhiwani, Rohtak, Sonepat, Dadri, Hisar and Mahendergarh districts in Haryana. Crop damage is also being reported from other parts of the state.
Separately, on March 3, Haryana Deputy Chief Minister Dushyant Chautala said that from the year 2014-15 till now, the state government has released an amount of Rs 2695.54 crore on account of damage to crops due to different natural calamities such as drought, flood, heavy rain, fire, hailstorm, pest attack and cold wave/frost since 2014-15 onwards.
On March 2, Rajasthan Disaster Management Minister Bhanwarlal Meghwal announced compensation for crop damages in February’s hailstorm, saying all farmers who have suffered more than 33 per cent crop losses would be given financial aid.
