Nashik: Unseasonal Rains Damage Crops On 4,200+ Hectares, 15,000+ Farmers Affected
Continuous unseasonal rains, hailstorms and stormy winds that have been continuing in Nashik district for the last nine days have caused major damage to crops in the district. According to the preliminary report of the Agriculture Department, crops on 4,240 hectares have been damaged between May 5 and 11, and 15,244 farmers in 658 villages have been affected.
As per the department’s records, mango and onion crops have been hit the most. Mango on 235 hectares has been damaged, while onion on 1,271 hectares has been damaged. In addition, onion nurseries on 171 hectares, vegetables on 395 hectares, tomatoes on 94 hectares and pomegranates on 69 hectares have also been damaged. This natural disaster occurred while the harvesting of summer onions was underway, causing huge losses to the farmers. The harvested onion, which was kept in sheds or fields for drying, was spoiled in the rain.
The sudden change in the weather in early May, with heavy rain, hail and gale-force winds blowing daily, has raised questions about whether the monsoon has arrived early this year.
The Agriculture Department is still assessing the damage to crops and officials have predicted that the number of affected areas is likely to increase. Farmers, who have suffered huge financial losses due to this unseasonal natural disaster, are now waiting for government assistance.
Most affected talukas:
Surgana: 195 villages, 4,511 farmers affected
Peth: 145 villages, 4,819 farmers affected
Triambakeshwar: 56 villages, 589 farmers affected
Baglan: 24 villages, 1,116 farmers affected
Chandwad: 12 villages, 1,584 farmers affected
Niphad: 31 villages, 392 farmers affected
Kalvan, Sinnar, Malegaon, Yeola, Nandgaon, Igatpuri and Dindori talukas have also been affected.
Stormy rainfall continues
Stormy rains continue to wreak havoc in the Nashik district. Heavy rains continued in the city on Wednesday. Trees fell at various places. Power supply remained disrupted throughout the day due to the rain.
On Monday, May 12, Gaurav and Samyak Bhosale were killed when a tree fell on their bike while they were on their way to work at Satpur from the Rajwada area of Deolali village.
The series of tree falls continued on Tuesday and Wednesday as well.
On Tuesday, seeing a big tree falling on the road at Sharanpur Road, drivers passing by jumped out of their cars in time, thus avoiding loss of life. However, two cars along with a rickshaw were crushed under the tree. This also brought traffic on the road to a standstill. After the fire brigade personnel reached the spot, they cut down the fallen tree with the help of a cutter and cleared the road for traffic.
Meanwhile, trees also fell at Ushakiran Society near City Centre Mall, Rohitra, and RD Circle near Canada Corner. Apart from this, traffic was disrupted in various parts of the city due to the branches of Gulmohar, Nilgiri, Shisam, Ashok and some other trees falling on the roads.
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