Karnataka: Crops across 2,500 hectares destroyed in Chamarajanagar

MYSURU: The unseasonal showers have rained plenty of woe on the farmers of Chamarajanagar, as attested to by the fact that standing crops across 2,523 hectares were destroyed in the district. A joint survey conducted by personnel from the revenue, agriculture, horticulture and sericulture departments ascertained the extent of the losses, which was found to be rather staggering.The other key finding of the survey, conducted at the behest of Chamarajanagar deputy commissioner Charulatha Somal, was that 640 houses were damaged owing to the record rainfall that the border district registered in November.
Taking cognisance of the scale of the damage, the district administration has commenced work on distribution of compensation to residents in accordance with the guidelines of the National Disaster Relief Fund (NDRF).
Ragi, sown in all the taluks of Chamarajanagar - Hanur, Kollegal, Chamarajanagar, Yelandur and Gundlupet - and, consequently, the crop was destroyed across 2,014 hectares. Paddy crop was destroyed in 24 hectares, while jowar was lost in 184 hectares, while groundnut and horticulture crops such as banana and papaya, among others, were washed away in 107 hectares.
The NDRF guidelines stipulate that the district administration can offer Rs 6,200 for every hectare of crops lost in farms fed by rain, while the sum is Rs 13,500 for every hectare of irrigated farmland. Meanwhile, damaged houses have been classified in three categories - A (destroyed houses), B (severely damaged) and C (partially damaged). While members of houses that were completely destroyed will be given Rs 95,100, while those whose houses have sustained partial damage will get Rs 5,200. In addition to the money disbursed from the NDRF corpus, residents will also be compensated by the state government, which is offering Rs 5 lakh for members of Scheduled Castes / Scheduled Tribes whose houses are completely destroyed, while a sum of Rs 3 lakh will be disbursed to those for repair of houses that have sustained severe damage.
Chamarajanagar additional deputy commissioner Katyayanidevi S told TOI that all the information about the loss of crops across the district had been uploaded on to the BHOOMI App. "We will directly credit the compensation to the bank accounts of the farmers. The district administration has sent all details about the losses incurred by the farmers and the damage to the houses to the principal secretary of the revenue department. There is the possibility of a central team arriving in the district to assess the extent of crop loss in the district," she said.