Central team visits hailstorm-hit villages in Vidarbha

A Central team today visited villages in Eastern Vidarbha to assess damage caused to crops and property due to untimely rains and hailstorm.
As many as 2,448 villages in 34 talukas in Eastern Vidarbha have been affected by the twin natural occurrences recently, official sources said.
Crops, including wheat, along with fruits like orange, sweet lime, besides tomato, flower, chilli and other vegetables have suffered damage.
The two-member team, led by Additional Chief Secretary (Urban Development) Sunita Dhawle, toured some of the affected villages in Nagpur and Bhandara districts, the sources said.
Four persons were killed and 47 injured in various rain-related incidents in Eastern Vidarbha in the last few days. Thirty-two livestocks also perished.

The team found 10,144 houses had suffered partial damage, while 105 collapsed completely due to heavy rains.
The team visited Kalmeshwar, Mohpa, Narkhed, Katol and Mouda talukas in Nagpur district, which had witnessed maximum damage. It also toured Paoni and Lakhandur talukas in the neighbouring Bhandara.
Later, Dhawle and the other member of the team, R K Gupta Deputy Commissioner (Dairy Development), held discussions with officials of Central Institute for Cotton Research here, they added.