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Floods due to heavy rainfall in Vidarbha have severely damaged cash crops, including cotton, oranges and soya beans. The Maharashtra government has set up a three-member committee to look into the damages caused to these crops and also to farm land, amid strong demand by ruling and opposition party members for the declaration of wet drought and a compensation of Rs 25,000 per hectare (ha). The committee is also assessing whether a wet drought in the region.
Wardha, Yavatmal, Gadchiroli and Chandrapur are hard hit and preliminary estimates show 100,000 ha each of cotton and soya bean have been destroyed due to heavy waterlogging in the fields. Around 60 per cent of Maharashtra’s cotton is grown in Wardha and Yavatmal. Besides, paddy nursery, which farmers had planted in Gadchiroli and Chandrapur districts, has been severely impacted.
“The survey of the region is still on and a detailed report will be out on Monday,” said S K Goel, state additional chief secretary in charge of the agriculture department. During the present kharif season, the total area of soya bean in Maharashtra has gone up by 300,000 ha, but cotton had reduced by 300,000 ha, he said. An agriculture department official, however, said crops in the affected areas had been completely uprooted and washed out.
Rehabilitation minister Patangrao Kadam has already announced a compensation of Rs 25,000 per ha for farm lands where there has been complete soil erosion. He assured that the declaration of a wet drought and the compensation of Rs 25,000 per ha, irrespective of the nature of land, will be done only after the ongoing survey. Chief minister Prithviraj Chavan will visit the flood-hit districts during the weekend and make a statement in the legislature on Monday.
