Bara, April 18

Hailstorm destroyed crops, including fruits, cereals and vegetables cultivated in thousands of hectares of land in different places of Bara last night.

In Jitpursimara sub-metropolis-11, Sisahaniya, vegetables cultivated in over 12 bigha land was destroyed by the rainfall packed with hailstones. According to vegetable farmer Jogendra Yadav, the hailstorm caused loss of millions of rupees.

“At a time when we were about to reap the fruit of our labour and investment, the inopportune hailstorm has left us completely distraught,” said Yadav, adding, “Over 30 families of Sisahaniya involved in vegetable farming have been affected by the harsh weather condition.

“Elsewhere, the hailstorm destroyed maize crops in Kalaiya Sub-Metropolitan City,” said farmer Rajesh Chaudhary of Kalaiya-24. “Hailstorm has destroyed maize crops cultivated in over 30 bigha land,” he said.

According to Agriculture Knowledge Centre Bara Chief Jitendra Prasad Yadav, vegetables cultivated in 5,443 hectare land, wheat crops in 3,534 hectare land, maize crops in 4,028 hectare land and fruits cultivated in 2,195 hectare land were damaged by the hailstorm.

“We’ve sent the details of the loss caused by the hailstorm to the Province Agriculture Directorate,” said Yadav.

The hailstorm has also blown away roofs of many houses in different parts of the district. Issuing a statement today, Nepal Communist Party (NCP) Province 2 chairperson and former minister Prabhu Sah sought the attention of all three levels of the government for relief package for the victims.

A version of this article appears in e-paper on April 19, 2020 of The Himalayan Times.