Hyderabad: Chief Minister K. Chandrashekar Rao has obtained reports from districts on crop loss caused by recent unseasonal rainfall and plans to conduct an aerial survey of flood-affected districts within a day or two to assess the damage and announce compensation to the farmers.
Incharge ministers of districts, Chief Secretary A. Santhi Kumari, and agriculture department officials have submitted reports to the CM on the damage caused to crops. Heavy rains and hailstorms last week have created havoc in undivided Warangal, Khammam, Ranga Reddy, Karimnagar, Nalgonda, Medak, Nizamabad, and Adilabad districts. According to preliminary crop loss estimates from the agricultural department, as many as 25 districts from eight undivided districts sustained massive losses.
Following the directions of the CM, incharge ministers of districts, Errabelli Dayakar Rao (Warangal), Koppula Eshwar and Gangula Kamalakar (Karimnagar), Allola Indrakaran Reddy (Adilabad), Vemula Prashanth Reddy (Nizamabad), G.Jagadish Reddy (Nalgonda), S.Niranjan Reddy (Mahabubnagar), Sabitha Indra Reddy (Rangareddy), Puvvada Ajay (Khammam) are undertaking field visits in respective districts for the past four days to assess crop loss due to unseasonal rains.
As of Tuesday, ministers and officials projected crop damage on three lakh acres belonging to one lakh farmers, with the figure projected to rise further after field visits are completed. It is learnt that Warangal district remained the worst affected district followed by Karimnagar and Nalgonda. Maize crop suffered huge losses followed by paddy, mirchi, groundnut and cotton crops.
After the state government opted out of Prime Minister Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) in 2020, no compensation is being paid to the farmers for crop loss due to natural calamities.
However, this time, the state government is keen to compensate the farmers on its own for the crop loss. There is a strong demand from the farmers to compensate for crop loss, who are holding dharnas and road blockades in few districts to press their demand. With the Assembly elections a few months away, the ruling party wants to avoid confrontation with the farmers, who form a major chunk of voters in rural areas and extend compensation.
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