THE GUJARAT government on Monday declared a relief package of Rs 947 crore for farmers of 18 talukas in five districts who suffered agricultural losses due to floods caused by heavy rains in August and September. The five districts are Junagadh, Panchmahals, Kutch, Patan and Vav-Tharad.
A government statement said that a survey was done to take stock of losses in the 18 talukas of the five districts. It was found that kharif crops such as castor, fodder, bajra, cotton, groundnut, vegetables, pulses and pomegranate were affected.
The release added that the relief package will include Rs 563 crore under the State Disaster Response Fund and an additional Rs 384 crore from the funds of the state government. The financial aid has been announced for a maximum two hectares of land per survey number. For non-irrigated land, the relief amount will be Rs 12,000 per hectare if the sustained loss is 33 per cent or more. The relief amount for irrigated land will be Rs 22,000 per hectare up to maximum two hectares for losses of 33 per cent or above. Similarly, for horticulture crops, the relief amount will be Rs 27,500 per hectare for maximum two hectares. With this, the government has also announced a special project as a flood mitigation measure for low-lying areas of Patan and Vav-Tharad districts which face water logging owing to special geographical situation in the event of flood and heavy rain. The statement said that an additional provision of Rs 2,500 crore would be made for rolling out this project.
For Patan and Vav-Tharad, the government has also announced financial assistance of Rs 20,000 per hectare to improve the land within the limit of maximum two hectares for farmers whose fields are still waterlogged.
