Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee president Ch. Anil Kumar today visited Yamuna Khader in East Delhi to get a first-hand knowledge of the extensive crop damages suffered by farmers in the recent heavy rains and hailstorms. Ch. Anil Kumar demanded proper compensation from the Delhi Government to the farmers for their cross loss. He said that agriculture activity takes place in over 34,750 acres of farm land in Delhi, and due to the hail storms, over 50,000 farmers have suffered heavy crop losses. Ch. Anil Kumar was accompanied by DPCC vice-president Shri Mudit Agarwal and Adv. Sunil Kumar, chairman of the Legal and Human Rights Department of the DPCC.
After surveying the crop losses, Ch. Anil Kumar demanded that the Delhi Government should give Rs 60,000 per acre compensation to the farmers, and they should also be given an interim relief of Rs 10,000 per acre forthwith, so that the farmers, who are the bread winners of each family, could take care of their immediate needs. He said that areas in Delhi like Narela, Najafgarh and other places have suffered heavy crop losses due to rain and hail storms.
Ch. Anil Kumar said that mostly vegetables were cultivated at Chilla Khader which included kakri, gobi, tomato, dhania, bhindi, brinjal and such vegetables. He said that this was the time for vegetable harvesting to be sent to the markets, and with the damage to the vegetable crops, farmers have suffered heavy losses. He said that as a consequence, labourers who toil in the farm lands, have also been severely affected.
Ch. Anil Kumar said that the farmers of Yamuna Khader have complained that after the rains and hail storms, neither Deputy Chief Minister Manish Sisodia nor Government officials have visited the area to assess the crop losses to the farmers, as Chilla Khader falls in the Assembly constituency of Shri Sisodia.
