Rain, hailstorm in U.P.: CM for crop damage relief within 24 hours
Yogi Adityanath said there should be no negligence in compensation process. He warned that strict action will be taken against any officer found neglecting their duties
Chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday instructed officials to promptly conduct a survey to assess the damage caused to farmers’ crops due to rain and hailstorm at various places across Uttar Pradesh, including state capital, late on Wednesday night and Thursday morning.
He directed all DMs, SDMs, and tehsildars to visit the affected areas immediately and carry out a detailed survey. The survey report should be submitted to the government so that compensation can be disbursed directly to the farmers’ accounts within 24 hours.
Yogi said there should be no negligence in the compensation process. He warned that strict action will be taken against any officer found neglecting their duties.
Uttar Pradesh agriculture minister Surya Pratap Shahi said “The Yogi government is fully committed to supporting the affected farmers. District officials have been asked to expedite damage assessments so that relief can be disbursed without delay.”
Following the survey, compensation for crop losses will be provided by the revenue department in collaboration with insurance companies. The weather conditions deteriorated suddenly on Wednesday night, leading to strong winds, hailstorm and lightning strikes in various areas. In response, the CM Yogi instructed officials to expedite relief efforts too.
In view of the bad weather, the relief department has issued an alert and urged people to step out of their homes only when absolutely necessary. After the CM’s instructions, state relief commissioner Bhanu Chandra Goswami also directed the officials to immediately conduct a field survey to assess the damage. The survey reports must be uploaded on the department’s portal as soon as possible, he said.
Compensation will only be provided to those farmers whose crops have suffered more than 33 percent damage due to flood, hailstorm and unseasonal rain. “All our wheat crop we harvested only and still lying in the field got soaked in rainwater. This will badly affect the grain quality,” said a farmer Rajveer Singh of Sarojni Nagar in Lucknow.
Crop gutted in Kheri fire; compensation provided within 24 hrs
On Wednesday evening, a massive fire broke out in Khajuha village, under Lakhimpur Kheri’s Gola tehsil destroying several bighas of wheat crops. On receiving the news, DM Durga Shakti Nagpal promptly reached the affected area to assess the damage.
The DM directed officials to conduct an immediate survey and submit the report without delay. On Thursday, she distributed cheques to the farmers of Lakhimpur Sadar, Mitauli and Gola tehsil, compensating them for their crop losses as per government guidelines. Affected farmers Kulveer Kaur, Upendra Singh and Jashmel Singh were each provided ₹50,000.
Satwant Singh, Sandeep Singh, and Jasbir Kaur received ₹40,000 each, while Baljeet Kaur and Harjeet Singh were given ₹12,150 and ₹14,550 respectively.
Similarly, crops in Aliapur and Mahuadhab villages under Mitauli Tehsil, were damaged due to the hailstorm on Wednesday night. In response, officials immediately processed the compensation.
Farmer Sudha Devi, who suffered a crop loss of 0.390 hectares, was provided a cheque of ₹11,700, while Brajraj Singh, who faced a loss of 0.150 hectares, received ₹4,500.
In a separate incident, a fire broke out on Wednesday night in Khajuha village under Tehsil Sadar, damaging sugarcane crops. Based on the evaluation report, SDM Ashwini Kumar Singh, deputy collector Amita Yadav and tehsildar Sushil Pratap Singh provided financial assistance of ₹3,220 to Sushil Kumar and ₹6,119 to Baburam.
