Patna: Bihar’s Disaster Management Department has declared all 38 districts of the state as disaster hit amid heavy damage to crops due to thunderstorms, unseasonal rain and hailstorms since April. This decision was taken in order to provide relief to farmers who are burdened by Bank Loans and had suffered heavy losses to crops due to thunderstorms, unseasonal rain and hailstorms in recent months.
According to the rules of Reserve Bank of India, Banks can reschedule the loan payment period only if the area is declared hit by a natural disaster.
Apart from damaging the crop and property, these thunderstorms also claimed over 100 lives in the state during April-May.
While this already enough, state’s farmers are reeling under fear of delayed monsoon and insufficient rains might severely impact the sowing of Kharif crops. The monsoon in the state has already been delayed by over 15 days and is unclear when it would hit the state. The regional Met department has been extending the monsoon arrival deadline regularly.
State’s farmers also suffer considerable damage to crops, during September-October when the state is hit by several cyclones originating in Bay Of Bengal and Indian Ocean. These have negatively impacted State’s GDP for several years.