Bihar declares all its districts disaster-hit

The Bihar government on Saturday declared all the 38 districts in the state as disaster-hit in the aftermath of the heavy damage to standing crops caused by thunderstorms, unseasonal rain and hailstorms in the past two months, officials said.

Principal secretary of the state disaster management department Vyasji said the government has declared all the districts disaster-hit following a proposal sent by his department.

The government took the decision as a RBI directive says that bank loans to farmers can be rescheduled only when a state is declared disaster-hit, he said.

"With all the districts declared disaster-hit, now the farmers would not be forced by the banks to repay their loans. It will be a big relief for farmers," he said.

According to officials of the agriculture department, the government had already asked various bank branches in the state to reschedule the loans to the farmers in cyclone-hit districts and later also in the districts which were hit by unseasonal rain and hailstorms.

The state government has also asked officials to prepare a contingency plan keeping in mind the delayed monsoon and deficient rain predicted this year in Bihar.

"The met department first predicted that monsoon will reach Bihar in the second week of June. Later it revised the forecast to the third week. Now monsoon is likely to hit Bihar on June 22," officials said.