By OUR STAFF REPORTER
Dehradun, 27 May: On Tuesday, State Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare Minister Ganesh Joshi held a meeting with officials from the Agriculture and Horticulture Departments to review the damage caused to crops due to recent unseasonal rainfall and hailstorm across the state.
During the meeting, Minister Joshi sought detailed information from the department officials regarding the crop losses. He instructed the officials to conduct regular monitoring of the affected areas and to submit daily reports to the ministry. He further directed that compensation to farmers be processed promptly as per Government of India norms.
Minister Joshi stated that, so far, crops spread over 5,236 hectares of agricultural land have been affected due to excessive rainfall and hailstorm. Out of this, 3,358 hectares have suffered more than 33% damage, qualifying under disaster relief norms. He added that of the total affected area, 1,367 hectares is irrigated land and 3,358 hectares is unirrigated.
Assuring the farmers, Minister Joshi stated that the state government stands firmly with them in this time of crisis and that compensation will be provided at the earliest, in accordance with established guidelines.
Present during the meeting were Agriculture Director KC Pathak, Horticulture Mission Director Mahendra Pal, Joint Director Dinesh Kumar, and other officials.
