Punjab rain fury deepens crop loss fears; state seeks central relief

Bathinda/Chandigarh: Punjab continued to receive large excess rainfall on Wednesday, raising fears of further damage to the standing wheat crop, even as agriculture minister Gurmeet Singh Khudian urged the Centre to send a high-level crop loss assessment team and extend relief to affected farmers.In a letter to Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chauhan, Khudian said the state had witnessed widespread damage to wheat and other rabi crops due to successive spells of heavy rain and hailstorms. Wheat was sown on nearly 35 lakh hectares this season and had promised a bumper yield, but the recent weather had dealt a major blow, he said. According to the state's preliminary assessment, crop loss had already been reported on more than 1.3 lakh acres, though officials said the figure was likely to rise as rain continued across several districts. Apart from wheat, damage has also been reported to vegetables, fodder and other rabi crops in districts including Fazilka, Ferozepur, Muktsar Sahib, Bathinda, Amritsar, Moga and Mansa. The weather data underlined the scale of the crisis. Between 8.30 am on April 7 and 8.30 am on April 8, Punjab recorded 13.5 mm rain against a normal of 0.4 mm, translating into 3,280% excess rainfall, while Haryana recorded 5,605% excess rain during the same period. Over the past week, Punjab received 20 mm rainfall against a normal of 3.3 mm, or 505% above normal. In one of the most intense spells, Moga district recorded 40 mm rain in just around 30 minutes, creating mini cloudburst-like conditions, with rainfall nearly 19,900% above normal for the 24-hour period. Hail was also reported at isolated places in Punjab, while gusty winds of up to 44 kmph in Mohali, 43 kmph in Bathinda and 41 kmph in Sangrur were recorded. Khudian said the Punjab govt had already ordered a special girdawari and pressed over 500 agriculture department officials into service in the affected districts to assess the extent of losses in coordination with the revenue department. "With rain still continuing, the damage is spreading and the final figure may rise," the minister said, stressing that farmers were under severe financial strain and needed urgent compensation. Meanwhile, Congress leader Amrinder Singh Raja Warring also wrote to Union agriculture minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, seeking urgent intervention, a special crop-loss assessment, enhanced compensation and separate relief for vegetable growers hit by the widespread hailstorm damage in Punjab.