1.5 mn tonnes wheat lying in state mandis, getting wet due to rains: Hooda

Congress leader Bhupinder Singh Hooda on Tuesday blamed the BJP-JJP government for the delay in the lifting of wheat crop and the acute lack of arrangements in mandis.

The former Haryana chief minister alleged that lakhs of metric tonnes of wheat in the mandis got wet in the rain due to the negligence of the government.

While the Meteorological Department had several days in advance predicted a wet spell at the beginning of May after which despite repeated demands by the Congress, the government neither arranged for the lifting of the crop from the mandis nor provided tarpaulin and bags to protect the crop from rain, he claimed in a statement here.

"15 lakh metric tonnes of wheat lying in the mandis of the state is getting wet, and the government remains a mute spectator. Due to the delay in lifting, the farmers have not even been paid.

"Till now the government has also not even given compensation for the crop damage due to rains that happened in the past..." the Leader of Opposition in Haryana further claimed.

Hooda demanded to improve the system in the mandis, speeding up the process of lifting, payment and compensation to farmers.

Notably, during the past few days, many parts of Punjab and Haryana have witnessed a wet spell.