Haryana, Punjab lashed by rain and hailstorm; wheat growers fear damage

Chandigarh: Rain and hailstorms lashed several places in Haryana and Punjab on Tuesday, raising worries among wheat growers, who anticipated damage to their crop which was ready for harvesting.

In Haryana, Hisar received a rainfall of 7.8 mm, while Rohtak, Charkhi Dadri, Gurugram, Mahendragarh, Palwal and Sonipat witnessed 1 mm, 3 mm, 1 mm, 8 mm, 1.5 mm and 0.5 mm of rainfall respectively, according to a report of the Meteorological Department here.

There were reports of gusty winds and hailstorms lashing in Charkhi Dadri, Rewari and Hisar in Haryana and Ferozepur, Muktsar and Fazilka areas in Punjab.

Maximum temperatures in Ambala, Hisar, Karnal and Mahendragarh were recorded at 33.9, 32.9, 33.2 and 28 degrees Celsius respectively, according to the report.

In neighbouring Punjab, Ferozepur and Fazilka saw 7.5 mm and 2 mm of rainfall.

Maximum temperatures in Amritsar, Ludhiana and Patiala stood at 30.4, 33.6 and 34.8 degrees Celsius respectively.

Maximum temperatures in Fazilka settled at 33.1 degree Celsius and in Ferozepur at 33.2 degree Celsius. Farmers in hailstorm-hit areas expressed fear that their standing crop would get damaged.

In the Malout area of Punjab’s Muktsar district, farmers pointed out that several agricultural fields in villages were affected because of the adverse weather conditions.

Farmers also said that in some areas, the wheat crop got flattened due to strong winds.

Manjit Singh Rai, president of the Bharti Kisan Union (Doaba), said rain along with hailstorm and strong winds at this stage could affect the wheat crop yield.

He demanded from the state government to conduct a survey of the affected fields for the damaged crops to give compensation to farmers. The wheat procurement season is set to commence from April 1. Punjab has been given target of procuring 122 lakh metric tonne of wheat.

The MeT department on Tuesday evening said moderate thunderstorm and gusty winds (40-50 km per hour) along with rain are likely over parts of Chandigarh, Mohali, Panchkula and adjoining areas.

The department also predicted thunderstorms, lightning with gusty winds at isolated places in Punjab and Haryana on April 3 and 4.