KHAMMAM: More than 20,000 farmers whose crops were damaged by floods in erstwhile Khammam district are still waiting for compensation from the State government.The Agriculture Department had held an assessment of the crop damage in the area and sent a detailed report to the State a few days ago. However, the government has not responded to the matter till now, which in turn has left farmers worried as they had planned to re-cultivate dry crops when they received the compensation.
Most of the farmers whose crops were damaged were poor and a majority cultivated on only one or two acres of land. Many had planted the crops by taking loans from private money lenders and are now in debt. According to agriculture officials, they are also waiting for the compensation to be sanctioned, but as of now no orders have been issued. Joint Directors of Agriculture K Abhimanyudu and Vijaya Nirmala stated that they had already sent the crop damage proposals to the government.
Earlier, the State government had paid a compensation of `6,800 per hectare for rain-fed lands and `13,500 per hectare for flood-affected crop lands. One official said that this year, compensation was doubtful as the government did not seem willing to pay it.According to officials, about 12,000 acres of crops were damaged in Bhadradri Kothagudem, and as many as 25,000 acres in Khammam district.