Crops in over 60 thousand hectares of land in Marathwada in Maharashtra have been damaged due to unseasonal rains last month. The crop loss assessment survey was carried out by the state government, and as per official data, Nanded saw the maximum loss with crops getting damaged on 21,579.50 hectares affecting 36,543 farmers.According to the officials, a sum of Rs 84.75 crore would be needed to give compensation to 1.22 lakh farmers. The compensation to be paid in Nanded was Rs 30.52 crore, Rs 22.17 crore in Aurangabad, Rs 10.56 crore in Latur, Rs 3.67 crore in Jalna, Rs 4.37 crore in Parbhani, Rs 6.04 crore in Hingol, Rs 5.99 crore in Beed and Rs 1.39 crore in Osmanabad.Damage to crops in GujaratApart from Maharashtra, Gujarat was also got affected due to unseasonal rains in March. Crops in over 42,000 hectares of land got affected in 15 districts in Gujarat. The survey conducted in the area found that farmers have suffered more than 33 percent damage. The survey was conducted on nearly 1.99 lakh hectares.Gujarat Health Minister Rushikesh Patel discussed the issue during a Cabinet meeting chaired by Chief Minister Bhupendra Patel in Gandhinagar. He declared that financial assistance will be announced for the affected farmers soon. Following the meeting, health minister Patel stated that in order for a farmer to qualify for help, crop loss must be greater than 33 percent as per State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) guidelines.According to a government survey, 42,201 hectares of cropland were damaged by more than 33 percent, he claimed. “15 districts, including Ahmedabad, Banaskantha, Bhavnagar, Amreli, Junagadh, and Bharuch, saw unusually heavy rainfall in March. According to preliminary data, 2,785 communities in these 15 districts standing crops and horticulture produce were devastated. 565 survey teams had been organised to analyse the loss.” Patel added.Patel further added, “After the survey in these 15 districts got over, a separate survey was conducted to access the loss to the mango orchards in Valsad, which is still on.” He also added, from March 4 to 24, 198 talukas of 30 out of 33 districts in Gujarat received unseasonal rains ranging from 1 mm to 47 mm, adding that 34 talukas in ten districts received more than 10 mm of rain.Unseasonal rains are not because of climate change: IMDAccording to the director-general of the India Meteorological Department, the recent unconditional rainfall cannot be attributed to climate change. However, he added that the frequency of heavy rainfall is rising while the frequency of low to moderate precipitation is declining due to manmade climate change. The unseasonal rainfall or heat waves could be attributed to variations in weather. Because of weather changes, the temperature is also rising, and so are heat wave conditions. This does not mean that we will witness heat waves every year.Why climate is changingAs per the details given by the Indian Meteorological Department, if you consider the fact that anthropogenic or man-made processes are to blame for climate change. As a result of the anthropogenic process, we release chemicals into the atmosphere, such as carbon dioxide and methane, which raise the temperature of the atmosphere. Reduce these gases release as much as possible. To make the atmosphere pure, all gases in the atmosphere should sink. The objectives of each of these stages and central action plans are to minimise the source and increase the sink. There is much that could be done on a personal level. I will be able to reduce carbon dioxide if I am aware of how much we are contributing. To reduce carbon footprint, awareness should be raised, plastic usage should be reduced, and plantations should be expanded. The target is to control the forecast of the planet warming up by 2 degrees Celsius by 2050. the current rising level is 1.15 degrees Celsius and the situation will be devasting if it touches two degrees Celsius.
