Distressed farmers await govt aid for crop loss in erstwhile Adilabad dist

ADILABAD: The farmers, whose standing crops have been damaged by the recent torrential downpours across the erstwhile Adilabad district, are awaiting compensation from the state government, which has not even ordered the assessment of crop damage in the state.

Crops such as cotton, soya and red gram, especially those cultivated on the riverbanks were worst affected while the fields suffered soil erosion and sand-silt casting. Small, marginal and tenant farmers in the district faced the brunt of the flood fury.

The cotton crop was cultivated approximately on 18 lakh acres in the erstwhile Adilabad district with 4 lakh acres in Adilabad district alone.

The state government announced the release of Rs 500 crore for flood relief operations but there was no mention of compensation for rain-hit farmers of the state, who are not covered by the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bheema Yojana.

The High Court also sought a report on the expenditure of the released amount. Meanwhile, the district agriculture officials, who have not conducted any field survey so far, got the rough estimates of crop loss that about 50,000 acres in Adilabad and 40,000 acres in Mancherial and 45,000 acres in Komaram Bheem Asifabad and 30,000 acres in the Nirmal district were damaged.

The affected farmers are now forced to spend more money to remove the sand-silt deposits from their fields to save the flooded crops.

Madavi Somu, an Adivasi farmer from Mallapur village of Indravelli mandal, who lost his cotton crop in 3 acres, said he was waiting for financial assistance from the government for the crop damage as he had invested Rs 15,000 per acre.