More snow, rains in north; crop damage issue raised in LS

New Delhi, Mar 14 (UNI) Moderate to heavy snowfall lashed higher reaches in Himachal Pradesh as Punjab and Haryana experienced widespread rains today, while Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda conducted an aerial survey of the hailstorm-affected areas of the state.

Night temperatures further dipped, hovering three degrees to six degrees Celsius below normal at many places in the Northwest region.

Meanwhile, members in the Lok Sabha voiced their concern at the loss being caused to the standing crops due to untimely rains and hailstorm in the entire northern India, and pleaded for assistance to the farmers affected by the natural calamity.

Raising the issue during zero hour, Mr Chandramani Tripathi (BJP) said the hailstorm and rains had caused widespread damage to the crops in Rewa in Madhya Pradesh. Earlier the farmers were badly hit by the drought conditions.

Haryana Chief Minister Bhupinder Singh Hooda conducted an aerial survey of the hailstorm affected areas in the districts of Mahendergarh, Rewari, Mewat and Faridabad to assess the damage caused to the crops due to heavy rains and intense hailstorm.

He said that the farmers who had suffered cent per cent loss would be given compensation at the rate of Rs 5,000 per acre for wheat and Rs 4,000 per acre for other crops whereas those farmers whose crops had suffered 50 per cent to 75 per cent damage would be given compensation at the rate of Rs 4,000 per acre for wheat and Rs 3,000 per acre for other crops.

In Himachal Pradesh, tribal districts of Lahaul Spiti and Kinnaur and Pangi valley and Bharmour area in Chamba district had another spell of snowfall plummeting the temperature in the tribal belt. The tribal areas reeled under intense cold wave conditions with the minimum temperature hovering below freezing point.

High hills in Kullu and Shimla districts also had snowfall. About 20 cm fresh snow had accumulated at Bhang-Manali and 12 cm snow at Solang Nullah, near the tourist resort of Manali in Kullu district.

The 13050-foot high Rohtang Pass also had snowfall, renewing cold conditions in the twin valleys of Kullu and Kangra.

Widespread rain lashed mid and lower hills of Himachal Pradesh and plains of Punjab and Haryana since last night, bringing a sharp fall in the temperatures.

Reports of rain were received from Bhuntar, Shimla, Dharamshala, Palampur, Gamroor, Ludhiana, Hoshiarpur, Nangal Dam, Balachour, Ambala, Panchkula, Morni, Kalka, Chachroli, Jagadri and Nelokheri.

Chandigarh and its adjoining areas were also lashed by rain overnight, dipping the minimum temperture to 9.4 degrees from 13.6 degrees recorded yesterday.

Life was slowly limping back to normal in Kashmir even as a majority of roads are still under snow and electricity has yet to be restored.

A majority of shops and business establishments in Kashmir reopened this morning after remaining closed for almost two days due to snowfall, highest in March after 15 years.

Vegetable, meat, milk and fruit shops remained closed.

People in large numbers were seen purchasing essential commodities in the city. Attendance in the government offices was also near normal after they remaining closed yesterday.

Jammu and Kashmir government has already announced holiday in all educational institutions till March 19 because of snowfall.

Transport service also resumed after two days on some selected routes where the authorities had cleared accumulated snow.

Snow on main roads to different towns of Kashmir has also been removed and road communication restored.

Facing acute shortage of essentials due to closure of Srinagar-Jammu national highway, people in Kashmir have once again resorted to vegetables and dried fish.

Air traffic resumed after remaining suspended for two days following heavy snowfall.

Reeling under hailstorms over the past three days, Rajasthan got relief from rain as the weather turned normal with the sun beaming across the state.

The Madhya Pradesh government has directed the collectors of hailstorm affected districts to conduct immediate surveys of loss of life and property due to hail, rain, lightning and wind and distribute compensation forthwith.

A preliminary report mentioned 16 lightning-linked fatalities in Sidhi, Satna, Damoh and Umaria districts. Revenue Minister Kamal Patel directed the collectors to disburse compensation under revenue rules.

In the national capital, a slight chill continued to persist in air for the fourth consecutive day today even as the sun emerged from the clouds.

Altogether 46 people were killed in the earlier two days.

Twenty-six people were killed yesterday throughout North and Central India as unseasonal heavy snowfall and rains lashed the region.

On Monday, at least 15 people were killed across Uttar Pradesh in incidents of lightning, while five pilgrims, including two children, died of intense cold conditions on their way to Vaishnodevi cave shrine on Trikuta hills at Katra in Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district.

UNI