Mumbai: After the natural calamity in Maharashtra - unseasonal rainfall leading to massive crop damage - , came the the human tragedy. Twenty eight farmers have committed suicide in the state in less than a month.
Manohar Patil, a resident of Jalgaon district, was one of them. He committed suicide on Wednesday after losing his standing crop to the unprecedented hailstorm and the unseasonal rains.
"He had taken a loan for farming. The crop got destroyed. He had no one to see the crop," his widow Savita said.
Manohar's father said, "How will we sustain our lives? That is the question facing us."
Manohar was just one of the scores of farmers who lost their standing rabi crop to the spate of intense hailstorms across the state in February and March.
Twenty eight districts in the states were affected. Over an estimated 16 lakh hectares of crops were destroyed. The losses could cross well over Rs 5,000 crore as the assessment of the damage is still going on.
Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan has promised help. "Many farmers have lost everything. We will do whatever we can to provide help and compensation," he said.
His government has reportedly sought Rs 5,000 crore from the Centre but with the elections approaching and the model code of conduct in force, the requisite permission for handing out the compensation is yet to come in from the Election Commission.
The unseasonal rainfall, humongous crop damage and the spate of farmer suicides may have adverse political ramifications in the coming months.
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