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The high-velocity dust storm followed by thundershowers which killed over 120 people and left a trail of destruction in parts of Rajasthan and Uttar Pradesh damaged much of standing vegetable crops, and hitting harvested wheat crop left in fields, farmer leaders said on Friday.
“Nearly 50-60 per cent vegetable crops in Kiraoli, Kheragarh and Fatehabad tehsils of Agra Janpath were destroyed in the freak storm and showers that lashed the district,” said Bharat Singh, a farmer leader associated with Kisan Sabha in Agra said.
Produce hit
Coming less than 20 days after a hailstorm on April 11 which devastated standing wheat crop in many parts of two other tehsils in the district — Agra and Etmadpur — it adds to the misery of the farmers, he said.
Agra and neighbouring areas bore the brunt of the destruction forcing UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath to rush back home abruptly ending his election campaign in Karnataka as it attracted widespread criticism.
Yudhvir Singh, Bharatiya Kisan Unint (Tikait) leader, urged the State governments of Rajasthan and UP to immediately assess the damage caused by the untimely rains and compensate farmers. “The farmers in the affected areas are in dire straits,” Singh said.
Moisture concern
Natthi Lal, Secretary of Kisan Sabha in Bharatpur district of Rajasthan, said there was nothing much left to be damaged by the latest bout of inclement weather as farms in and around Bharatpur was already ruined by the April 11 hailstorm.
But in some areas, harvested wheat was still lying in the field and the farmers cannot get much from the crop as moisture content of the grains is bound to go up, he said.
Out of gear
According to them, normality is yet to return to most of the affected areas. “The authorities haven’t been able to restore electricity yet, hitting water supply in a major way. The officials say they would be able to restore electricity only by Saturday and that too in urban areas,” said Lal. The situation is not different in Agra too, said Singh of Kisan Sabha.
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