Untimely rains, hailstorm hit 9.38 million hectare of farmland, says Mohanbhai Kundaria

NEW DELHI: The government has revised the estimated area of farmland damaged due to recent unseasonal rains and hailstorm to 9.38 million hectare, minister of state for agriculture Mohanbhai Kundaria informed the Lok Sabha on Tuesday.

The assessment is based on inputs received from states as on April 16, he said.

This was the second time the agriculture ministry revised the area impacted by untimely rains and hailstorms between January and March. In the first week of April it had shared a figure of loss on 11.3 million hectare. Then on April 8, it substantially reduced the area to 8.5 million hectare. Now, it has gone up again.

The total cultivable area in rabi season in the country is estimated at 60 million hectare.

Kundaria said it is too early to arrive at the exact assessment of damage to production to rabi crops due to rains and hailstorms.

He said Maharashtra has reported three cases of farmers’ suicide due to the damages caused by recent untimely rains and hailstorms, while there have been no such cases reported from Punjab, Karnataka, Goa, Uttar Pradesh, Haryana, Kerala and Andhra Pradesh.

On the issue of relief measures, the minister said Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan and Haryana have asked financial assistance of Rs 744.48 crore, Rs 8,252 crore and Rs 1,135.91 crore, respectively, from the national disaster response fund.

Meanwhile, inter-ministerial central teams (IMCTs) have been constituted to visit the affected states to assess damages to crops and recommend financial assistance in accordance with extant norms and procedure. IMCTs have already visited Uttar Pradesh and Rajasthan.