Central team visits rain-hit Vidarbha

Elected representatives seek aid for affected farmers

* MLAs Sudhir Parwe and Vijay Ghodmare, ZP chief Sandhya Gotmare demand ‘wet drought’ to be declared in Nagpur district

Staff Reporter
The team sent by Central Government, on Wednesday, started its two-day visit to rain-hit parts of Vidarbha region. On the first day, one of the four teams visited affected villages in Bhiwapur, Umred, and Hingna tehsils of Nagpur district. During its visit, the team interacted with affected farmers, elected representatives, and also took stock of damage caused by excessive and high-intensity rainfall.
Rain fury had wreaked havoc in Nagpur district in the months of June and July. Apart from causing widespread damage to property, the rains had shattered farmers’ hopes of a good crop. Soyabean, cotton, chilli were the hardest-hit crops. At many places, fertile layer of soil was washed away. The situation was the same across Vidarbha region. Taking cognisance of this, Maharashtra Government sought aid from the Central Government to offer some relief to affected parts of the region. In response, Central Government sent the team.
The team led by Joint Secretary of Union Home Department Gopal Reddy visited Kanholibara, Khapri Gandhi, Takalghat villages in Hingna tehsil; Pauni, Kalamna, Sawangi Bujruk, Sawangi Khurd, Saisur in Umred tehsil; Mahalgaon, Kirkapar, Besur in Bhiwapur tehsil.
At Kanholibara, Zilla Parishad chief Sandhya Gotmare submitted a memorandum to Reddy. She apprised him of the loss of crop, property, and life due to excessive and high-intensity rainfall. MLA Vijay Ghodmare also interacted with Reddy in presence of affected farmers including Bhaiyyaji Latare, Suresh Harode, Mahadeo Masram, Sevakram Shahane, Kishor Shahane, Shankarrao Sathawane. ZP Agriculture Committee chief Varsha Dhopte, Sarpanch (Kanholibara) Shravan Junghare also informed the visiting team of damage caused by rainfall.

A farm from which fertile layer of soil and crop was washed away.

Gopal Reddy, Joint Director, Union Home Department, who led the Central team that visited rain-hit areas of Nagpur district on Wednesday, interacting with MLA Vijay Ghodmare and ZP chief Sandhya Gotmare. Saurabh Rao, District Collector, also is seen.

During his visit to Lakhmapur village in Hingna tehsil, Gopal Reddy was informed that record rainfall on July 19 had destroyed crop on 123 hectares area. In all, 37 farmers were affected. At Kanholibara, crops in 648 hectares were damaged apart from loss of property in the form of collapse of houses. At Kalamna, MLA Sudhir Parwe told Reddy that fertile soil was washed away from farms on the banks of rivers. The tehsil-wise crop damage, according to elected representatives was as follows: Umred-- 27,990.33 hectares; Bhiwapur-- 19,788 hectares; and Kuhi-- 23,033.30 hectares. Besides, 638.88 hectares of agricultural land was rendered useless by floods. In Bhiwapur tehsil, 35 hectares of agricultural land was affected after heavy rainfall.

All the elected representatives who appeared before the Central team demandd aid for affected farmers. MLAs Vijay Ghodmare and Sudhir Parwe, ZP chief Sandhya Gotmare demanded that ‘wet drought’ should be declared in Nagpur district.

District Collector Saurabh Rao, Chief Executive Officer of Zilla Parishad Pradeep P, Director (Extension and Training) Dr S S Adsul, District Superintending Agriculture Officer Dr Archana Kadu, Sub-Divisional Agriculture Officers V S Nimje and Pusalkar, District Agriculture Officer Subodh Moharil, Sub-Divisional Officer Prakash Patil, Tehsildar Shriram Mundada, Umred Sub-Divisional Officer Ashok Latare accompanied Reddy.

(Published in The Hitavada CityLine on September 12, 2013)