Maharashtra Chief Minister Visits Rain-Hit Nashik, Reviews Crop Damage

Maharashtra Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Monday visited rain-affected areas of Nashik district and reviewed the losses faced by farmers.

The chief minister's tour of Satana taluka in the district comes a day after his Ayodhya visit and amid attacks from the opposition that he was out of the state when unseasonal rains accompanied by hailstorm and lightning had damaged crops in several districts.

Mr Shinde visited Dholbare, Nitane, Bijot and Akhatwade villages in Satana taluka accompanied by district guardian minister Dada Bhuse and senior officials.

He inspected the damage caused to onion, grapes and pomegranate cultivation in these villages and interacted with farmers, officials said.

Unseasonal rain accompanied by gusty winds and hailstorm hit Chas, Nandur Shingote, Chapadgaon, Naygaon in Sinnar taluka, Jalgaon Budruk in Nandgaon taluka, Chinchve, Kumbharde and Sangvi villages in Dewla taluka, Lasalgaon, Thangaon, Dapur, Dodi, Chapadgaon in Satana taluka on Sunday, they said.

Some of these areas received rains on Friday and Saturday as well, leaving onion, grapes, pomegranate and vegetable cultivation affected, these officials added.

Several parts of Nashik city, including Eklahare, Nashik Road, Upnagar, Dwarka and Indiranagar, received light to heavy rains on Sunday, leading to damage to trees and advertisement hoardings in some places and snapping of power lines, civic officials said.

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