Chhattisgarh seeks Rs.300 crore damages for paddy farmers

RAIPUR - The Chhattisgarh government has sought at least Rs.300 crore compensation from the centre for the paddy growers whose crops were devastated due to unseasonal heavy rains early this month, an official said Wednesday.

The Bharatiya Janata Party led-government informed the centre that the rains lashed the state’s 18 districts early this month, which hit thousands of paddy farmers whose crops were washed away. It asked for a compensation package of Rs.300 crore to get over the crisis.

The official said that a majority of farmers had taken loans to sow this year’s kharif crops, mainly the paddy, and despite poor monsoon here they had managed good crops. But the unseasonal heavy rains early this month destroyed their crops stored in open.