According to preliminary estimates, over two lakh hectares of standing crop have been damaged due to the massive rains and flooding that hit Maharashtra the last few days. Chief Minister Uddhav Thackeray has said that the government was assessing the damage to crops and properties and would soon announce relief measures. However, farmers are claiming that insurance companies were not responding to their request for damage assessment.
An estimated 63,000 hectares of crop have been affected in Kolhapur, one of the worst-hit districts. Huge tracts of sugarcane crop were under water for almost a week; rice, soyabean, vegetables, and horticulture have been affected too.
In the Vidarbha region, crops on over 66,000 hectares stand damaged. In Satara district, 5,000 hectares have been affected, as per preliminary reports, with rice, soya and vegetable crop suffering the most. In Akola, about 55,000 hectares have been hit.
Of the 33,000 hectares affected in Sangli district, 13,000 hectares have sugarcane under water. This is likely to affect the weight and extract rate of sugarcane.
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In Ratnagiri district of Konkan region, over 1,000 hectares of rice cultivation have been hit. Rice sowing was completed in the first week of July and the flooding has swept away the saplings, farmers said.
Farmers in Nanded say that while insurance companies ask them to report damages within 72 hours, the toll-free number did not work and most farmers don’t have e-mail access. Soyabean, mung, jowar and urad are the most affected crops in Nanded.
State Agriculture Minister Dada Bhuse said the government would issue notices to insurance companies that fail to assess crop damage. He added that the government would also initiate action against agriculture department officials who failed to help farmers during the crisis.
Meanwhile, the Swabhimani Shetkari Sanghatana (SSS) has launched agitations demanding insurance payouts for the losses suffered in the last kharif season.