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Devastating floods in parts of Gujarat last month damaged agricultural crops worth Rs 867 crore affecting 6.44 lakh farmers from 17 districts in the state.
Gujarat agriculture minister Chimanbhai Shapariya informed that about 10.98 lakh hectares of agricultural land of 4,333 villages was affected due to floods besides 16,808 hectares of horticulture area in 2,431 villages. Almost the whole of the state witnessed heavy rains in the last week of July.
"The assessment is almost completed and there are 17 affected districts, out of which there are land erosion of about 1.99 lakh hectares in 15 districts. The relief payable for agriculture loss stands at Rs 867 crore, while horticulture damage stands at Rs 9.71 crore," Shapariya told BusinessLine . The worst affected districts were Banaskantha, Patan, Surendranagar, Morbi and Jamnagar. Banaskantha and Patan received 163 per cent and 140 per cent respectively of their season's rainfall.
Shapariya further mentioned that as many as 6.44 lakh farmers were affected due to crop loss in agriculture and about 4,989 farmers faced loss in horticulture crops. The major crops that were damaged due to flooding of farms were paddy, guar, cotton, millet, pulses among others.
The State government had conducted extensive survey for damage assessment with the help of 763 teams for agriculture assessment, 405 teams for horticulture and 395 teams for land erosion assessment across the state. "Most of the assessment is completed and the payment of relief has been initiated. Total payable relief for agriculture, horticulture, cattle and land damage stands at Rs 1,653 crore," Shapariya informed. Cattle loss stood at 14,300, while human over 200 human lives were lost during the monsoon season.
The state has also hiked the limit of relief package for cattle loss from earlier Rs 30,000 per cattle with limit of up to 3 cattle per farmer, to Rs 40,000 per cattle up to 5 cattle per farmer. Shapariya also mentioned that the water storage in the state reservoirs is sufficient to survive the rabi sowing later this year. "There is adequate water available in the dams, there will be no shortage of water for the winter crop," he said.
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