Bhopal, April 6 Taking note of widespread crop damage caused by recent unseasonal weather, Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Madhya Pradesh Umang Singhar on Monday wrote a letter to Chief Minister Mohan Yadav, demanding immediate relief measures for farmers across the state.
In his letter, Singhar highlighted that untimely rains, thunderstorms, and hailstorms have severely impacted standing and harvested crops in several districts, including Bhind, Morena, Gwalior, Datia, Shivpuri, Barwani, Betul, and Raisen.
Moderate rain accompanied by high‑speed winds was also observed in the districts of the Vindhya region of Madhya Pradesh on Saturday and Sunday.
The Congress leader noted that crops such as wheat, mustard, and gram have reportedly suffered extensive losses, raising serious concerns about farmers’ livelihoods.
He also pointed out that delays in procuring wheat at the Minimum Support Price (MSP) left harvested wheat lying in fields and threshing yards for long periods.
“This exposure made the crops particularly vulnerable to sudden weather changes, aggravating the scale of damage and financial losses faced by farmers,” Singhar wrote in his letter.
The process of wheat procurement at MSP will start from April 10, according to the government's earlier statement.
He has urged the state government to take swift, concrete steps, including a time‑bound, transparent survey of affected areas conducted by the Revenue and Agriculture Departments.
Singhar demanded immediate compensation for farmers based on the actual assessment of losses.
Additionally, he called for relaxation of quality norms for rain‑affected produce, so that farmers can still sell their crops under the procurement system without being rejected.
Meanwhile, weather conditions across Madhya Pradesh on Monday remained unstable, with several regions witnessing cloudy skies, intermittent rainfall, and gusty winds.
According to the Meteorological Department’s inputs, parts of northern and central Madhya Pradesh continued to experience light to moderate showers, while isolated areas reported hailstorms and thunderstorms.
Weather scientists at the regional India Meteorological Department (IMD) office in Bhopal said that the changing weather pattern has been attributed to active western disturbances and local atmospheric instability.
The prevailing conditions have raised further concerns among farmers, as standing crops and harvested produce remain at risk, with forecasts indicating continued weather fluctuations over the next couple of days.
--IANS
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