New Delhi, Sep 7 (IANS) The Delhi Congress on Sunday demanded government compensation at the rate of Rs 1 lakh per acre for farmers of nearly 50 villages as their crops have been damaged in the current rains and Yamuna floods.

Delhi Pradesh Congress Committee President Devender Yadav said the farmers suffered extensive damage to their crops after heavy rains and floods submerged thousands of acres of land in the city.

Yadav said that farmlands in around 50 villages, including Palla, Hiranki, Bhaktawarpur, Songarpur, Tijipur, Jagatpur and Burari, are under water, causing shock and uncertainty among thousands of farmers who are solely dependent on farm produce for livelihood.

He said flood-hit farmers urgently need aid, as many of them cultivated their lands by taking loans and borrowing money.

Yadav said that the farmers of “Dilli Dehat” had supported the BJP during the Delhi Assembly elections, but the Rekha Gupta government has allegedly neglected the plight of farmers who have been wrecked by monsoon rains and floods.

He said that along with the poor people living in the flood plains of the Yamuna, the farmers also became victims of the flood fury.

He accused the government of waking up late to the grim reality of floods and that, too, after a large volume of water was released from the Hathnikund Barrage in Haryana, causing heavy damage in the low-lying areas and the farm lands.

Yadav said that when Congress was in power, whenever there were crop damages due to rains, flooding or hailstorms, Delhi farmers were provided quick financial relief, ranging from Rs 25,000 to Rs 50,000 per acre.

He alleged the previous Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) also neglected farmers for over 11 years, and now the present government was adopting the same strategy towards farmers by ignoring the heavy crop damage suffered by them.

–IANS

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