Unseasonal rains accompanied by hailstorms have caused widespread destruction across Dhule district in Maharashtra, severely impacting the farming community and damaging crops over thousands of hectares.

According to official estimates, agricultural land spanning 8,145.60 hectares has been affected by the sudden weather disturbance. The talukas of Dhule and Sakri have emerged as the worst-hit regions, leaving thousands of farmers grappling with heavy financial losses.

Officials said the impact has been particularly severe in Sakri, where more than 9,000 farmers have been directly affected. In Dhule taluka, onion growers have suffered losses running into lakhs of rupees, further deepening the agrarian distress.

Preliminary assessments by the Agriculture Department point to large-scale damage across both unirrigated and irrigated areas. In rain-fed zones, maize crops spread over 1,422 hectares and summer millet across 186 hectares have been completely destroyed.

Irrigated crops have also taken a major hit, with onion cultivation worst affected. Damage has been reported across 4,741 hectares of onion fields, while vegetable crops grown over 321 hectares have also suffered heavy losses.

Fruit orchards have not been spared. Strong winds and hail have damaged papaya and pomegranate plantations, while mango orchards have been adversely affected, with blossoms knocked off trees, raising concerns over future yields.

The latest destruction comes close on the heels of an earlier spell of unseasonal rain on 19 March, which had already caused crop losses in parts of the district. However, officials noted that the situation worsened significantly after the 30 March hailstorm, which intensified the scale of damage, particularly in irrigated crops and orchards.

Compared to the earlier weather event, authorities reported a sharp rise in the number of affected villages and farmers, underscoring the severity of the latest spell.

In the aftermath of the devastation, farmers have urged the government to carry out a comprehensive damage assessment and provide immediate financial assistance and compensation to those affected.

With IANS inputs