Hailstorm damages crops in 13 UP districts

Lucknow: The Uttar Pradesh government on Tuesday said that more than 33 percent of crops in Banda, Hamirpur, Mahoba, Jalaun, Fatehpur, Ghazipur, Jaunpur, Lucknow, Sitapur, Firozabad, Agra, Aligarh and Bhadohi districts had been damaged in the recent rains and hailstorm.

Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has asked officials to extend prompt relief to farmers whose crops have been damaged and also directed district magistrates to set up teams of revenue and agriculture department officials to conduct assesment of the damage and send a report at the earliest so that relief could be provided immediately, said Relief Commissioner Anil Kumar.

A crop damage assesment of Rs.25 crore has been sent from Fatehpur.

Heavy rains and hailstorm had wrecked havoc on Rabi crops across the state on Monday.