Shimla (Himachal Pradesh) [India], April 17: A powerful thunderstorm accompanied by heavy rainfall struck various parts of Himachal Pradesh on Wednesday night, causing significant damage to crops and uprooting trees across the state. While no casualties have been reported, the agricultural and horticultural sectors have suffered substantial losses.
Jagat Singh Negi, Himachal Pradesh’s Minister for Revenue, Horticulture, and Tribal Development, confirmed widespread crop damage, particularly affecting apple and stone fruit blossoms as well as wheat fields.
“The storm has caused considerable damage to flowering in our apple and stone fruit crops. Wheat crops have also suffered,” said Negi while speaking to ANI. He added that the horticulture and revenue departments have been directed to conduct immediate damage assessments.
The worst-hit areas include tribal and upper hilly regions, where heavy winds uprooted trees, blocked roads, and disrupted local transportation.
In addition to discussing the storm’s impact, Minister Negi also addressed the long-standing demand for temporary relaxation of the Forest Conservation Act (FCA) in tribal areas. The proposal, which aims to facilitate land allotment to landless individuals, is currently pending the governor’s approval.
Negi explained that under the ‘na-tod’ land allotment system, landless tribals are entitled to land. However, most of this land is designated as forest land, bringing it under FCA restrictions since the law’s implementation in 1980.
“During previous Congress governments, the governor used his authority under Schedule V to temporarily relax the FCA, which helped many people. But the BJP government failed to act on pending cases, even after the Centre’s 2020 directive allowing temporary suspension of FCA provisions,” he said.
According to Negi, over 20,000 ‘na-tod’ cases remain unresolved, depriving eligible landless families of land rights. He emphasized the potential of resolving these cases to curb migration and unemployment in sparsely populated border areas.
“I’ve met with the governor five times to urge intervention. We must act now for the sake of tribal communities,” he concluded.