Hailstorm: Officer teams deployed in Bajpur and Gadarpur for five days to assess losses, drones too; Congress demands ₹50,000 an acre compensation

After the hailstorm and storm in the Bajpur and Gadarpur areas, District Magistrate Nitin Singh Bhadauria has ordered officers and staff to be deployed for the next five days under the Disaster Management Act, 2005. The teams will help the Bajpur and Gadarpur SDMs assess the damage in affected areas, prepare lists of farmers and distribute compensation. The Jaspur and Kashipur SDMs, with tehsildars and three revenue staff each, will be posted in Bajpur and have been told to provide drones; teams from Rudrapur and Kichha will work in Gadarpur. Officers and staff of the agriculture and development departments have also been assigned. Meanwhile, Congress workers led by Kisan Congress state president Harminder Singh Dhillon (Ladi) protested at the collectorate and handed a memorandum to ADM Pankaj Upadhyay. They demanded compensation of ₹50,000 an acre for affected farmers, waiver of electricity bills, a sugarcane price of ₹700 a quintal and the start of sugar mills in the first week of November. (Source: Amar Ujala)