Haryana announces relief package for farmers

The Haryana government today said it would disburse over Rs 75 crore to the farmers whose crops had been damaged by rain and hailstorm last month.

This was disclosed by Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda in the Haryana assembly.

He said due to rain and hailstorm from Feb 10-13 , the farmers suffered heavy crop loss.

According to the special revenue assessment reports, the damage to wheat and other crops has been reported over a total area of about 2.05 lakh acres. Hooda said of the Rs 75 crore, central assistance would only be Rs. 13.92 crore and the rest of the amount would be paid to the farmers by the state government.

The compensation would be paid to the affected farmers in April on the basis of the "special girdawari" reports. State Irrigation Minister Ajay Singh Yadav said the deputy commissioner had reported that there had been no damage to crops in the district.

However, due to the huge quantity of water coming into river Ghaggar and less capacity of Ottu Lake, the gates of Ottu weir were opened and water was released in river Ghaggar downstream from February 14 to 22. As a result of it, crops over an area of 1700 acres of 15 villages had been damaged.