Delhi: Centre, state yet to provide relief for crop damage due to rain

NEW DELHI: The burden of loans, rising prices of fertilizers and pesticides and lack of crop insurance have set alarm bells ringing among the farmers in NCR. Adding to their woes was the unseasonal rain and hailstorm due to which most of the villagers in the Bawana region have lost nearly three-fourth of their standing crops. With no intervention from either the Centre or the state government so far, the farmers say they may be forced to resort to distress sale of their land to repay the loans.

Worst-affected are those who raised crops on leased land as they have to pay the owner the promised amount of money despite the loss. The farmers complain that even the local MLA of the Aam Aadmi Party government has not visited them so far.

"Even otherwise we (small and mid-level farmers in Delhi) are living in pitiable condition—after investing anywhere between Rs 25,000 and Rs 50,000, we get only Rs 10,000. This year we have lost the investment itself. If the weather favours us, it will take four or five years to make up the loss," said Satvir Singh of Karewara village, whose crops were damaged in the recent spell of rain.

The unseasonal showers and hailstorms in first two weeks of March had affected around 4,000 acres of land across a dozen villages in the Bawana region bordering Haryana. Three of the worst-affected villages are Bajitpur Thakran, Katewara and Qutubgarh. A visit to the villages provides a glimpse of the extent of the damage caused to the farm land.

"My husband is working on a five-acre leased land. We have to pay back the promised amount. Had the crop been good, we would have somehow managed to make a few thousand rupees. But now we don't know what to do as these crops are not even fit to be used as cattle feed," said Laxmi, a resident of Qutubgarh.

The villagers claim that the government has so far not announced any compensation for their loss.