The assessment team chose to visit the region on Nov 16, almost seven months after the April disaster. Apple growers opine that it is impossible to assess the extent of the damage when all traces of it have already disappeared, writes Raj Machhan
The ignominious defeat of BJP candidates in all four constituencies in Himachal Pradesh in the polls has finally given the wake up call to a smug government setup at the centre and the state. The governments are now directly reaching out to farmers and horticulturists in the state to take stock of losses caused by recurring natural disasters that have left a number of families, especially the small and marginal horticulturists, in dire straits.
An Inter-ministerial disaster assessment team of officials from the Centre led by Dr Pramod Kumar Maherda, a Joint Secretary in the Union Government Department of Agriculture & Farmer Welfare, and comprising members Deependra Kumar, Director, Department of Expenditure along with Timman Singh, Deputy Director, Department of Rural Development visited various parts of the state, including the apple belt of Shimla district.
The timing of the visit, though, raises some serious questions about the objective. It came across more as a public relations drive, rather than a mission to assess losses in a systematic manner. In 2021, the apple growing areas of Himachal Pradesh faced serious losses on numerous occasions. The first among these was caused by unprecedented snowfall in the last week of April. Old timers, some of whom are in their 90s, say that they had never witnessed such a phenomenon during their lifetime.
The so called damage assessment team, however, chose to visit the region on November 16, almost seven months after the April disaster. Apple growers opine that it is almost impossible to assess the extent of the damage when all traces of it have disappeared (or made to disappear by corrective action taken by the farmers on their own).
Presently, the autumn season has set in, the leaves have dropped off, and the apple trees stand bare. Says Pyare Lal Chauhan, a prominent orchardists, “I wonder what method they can possibly adopt to record the real damage. What is the point of this visit? There have been a series of calamities after the first one. Apple growers have already sold their damaged crop. How can anyone arrive at any real assessment of the loss just by a cursory glance at barren trees?” A member of the National Horticulture Board termed it as an utterly futile exercise. “It’s a waste of public money. Whenever babus want to go on a holiday, this is the way they go about it.”
