Farmers want Baffa-Pakhal declared as calamity-hit tehsil

MANSEHRA: The farmers, whose standing crops and vegetables were destroyed during the recent hailstorm, have demanded the government to declare Baffa-Pakhal a calamity-hit tehsil.

“Our mature wheat crops, cauliflower, tomatoes, potatoes and other vegetable have been destroyed during the recent hailstorms, leaving us hand to mouth,” Abdul Razzaq, a farmer, told reporters in Baffa area on Wednesday.

A group of tenant farmers, led by Razzaq, told reporters that due to spoiling of the crops, they were not in a position even to pay the landowners their fixed annual rent of agriculture fields acquired on yearly and half yearly leased basis.“We want government to declare our district, particularly Baffa-Pakhal tehsil, as a calamity-hit area so that we could stand on our feet,” said Razzaq.

Another tenant, Mohammad Jawad, said that once Khyber Pakhtunkhwa government declared their tehsil a calamity-hit area, they could benefit from the relief and could avail interest-free loans for their crops and vegetables for the upcoming season. “The current Covid-19 lockdown has already adversely affected us but this rough weather caused us a huge financial loss and we cannot even meet basic necessities of our households,” said Jawad.