Gadkari-led team to assess crop damage in UP tomorrow

Would visit Agra, Aligarh and Meerut district, which are amongst the worst affected due to unseasonal rains

A central government team led by Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari will visit Uttar Pradesh on Tuesday to take stock of the crop damage, owing to unseasonal rains and hailstorms over the past weeks.

The team would also comprise Union Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation Ram Kripal Yadav.

The central team would visit Agra, Aligarh and Meerut districts, which are among the worst-affected. The damage to crop has been extensive across the state and is as high as 70-80 per cent in some places. Several farmers have reportedly committed suicide, while some died of shock due to the crop damage, as they had taken crop loans.

Gadkari would hold consultations with farmers during his visit. He would be accompanied by state Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) President Laxmi Kant Bajpai.

The BJP has flayed the ruling Samajwadi Party in the state for its alleged failure to provide succour to state farmers.

State BJP spokesperson Vijay Bahadur Pathak said while the state government had released Rs 244 crore in two instalments, only Rs 90 crore had so far been disbursed among farmers. He said the relief amount had not even distributed in the neighbouring district of Barabanki.

"The distressed farmers are dying every day and the incidents are being reported in the media routinely but the apathetic state government is not ready to accept they are dying due to crop damage," he said.

There are an estimated about 23 million farmers in the state, including 18.50 million marginal farmers (land holding of less than one hectare), about three million small farmers (less than two hectare land) and about 1.80 million other farmers (about two hectare land holding).

The total area under various crops in Uttar Pradesh is pegged at 17.60 million hectares (mh). In the current rabi season, the total acreage of various crops was about 13 mh, including wheat (9.86 mh), gram, peas, lentils and potato.

Chief Secretary Alok Ranjan held a video conference with district officials to review the relief measures being taken in the state in the backdrop of crop damage across the various districts.

Corrects Union minister Ram Kripal Yadav's portfolio to Minister of State for Drinking Water and Sanitation