Untimely rain hits standing rabi crops in north, central and south India

Widespread rains accompanied by gusty winds and hailstorm hit several districts across the North, West, Central and Southern parts of the country putting at risk the ready to harvest rabi crops.

State governments swung into action assuring farmers of compensation for the damages suffered and promised to undertake surveys to assess the loss. 

The actual impact of the rains on crops such as wheat, mustard, etc will be known after the assessments.

In Uttar Pradesh, chief minister Yogi Adityanath directed officials to undertake surveys to assess the loss and promptly compensate the farmers, while in Gujarat, chief minister Bupendra Patel held a high-level meeting on Sunday to review the situation, and in Madhya Pradesh and Telangana, the state administration swung into action due to incessant rains and hailstorm in the main wheat-growing areas.  

In Rajasthan, speaker Om Birla toured the unseasonal rain-affected regions of Bundi, while the state administration assured compensation.

In MP, wheat crop in the mail Malwa-Nimar belt as well as Gwalior and Chambal division was hit by the unseasonal rains.

In Gujarat, several parts of Kutch, Patan, Ahmedabad, Sabarkantha, Aravalli, Banaskantha, Surat and other districts received more than 15 mm rainfall on Saturday evening, while 81 talukas witnessed showers in 24 hours till 6 am on Sunday, the State Emergency Operation Centre (SEOC) said.

In Punjab, wheat growers were worried after rains lashed many parts of Punjab on Saturday, leaving farmers worried as showers accompanied by high-velocity winds flattened the wheat crop at some places in the state.

Strong winds flattened standing wheat crop at about 150 hectares of land in Mukerian, Tanda and Sham Chaurasi areas of this district, while in Muktsar also, rains and high-velocity winds flattened the wheat crop at some places. Punjab this season brought 34.90 lakh hectares of area under wheat crop with a projected output of 17 million tonnes.