A farmers advocacy group said on Wednesday that at least 32 farmers had committed suicide over the past three weeks in the region of Vidarbha, central India, after heavy storms had ruined their crops.
The heavy rain and hail, which is unusual at this time in Vidarbha, destroyed crops, prompting farmers to commit suicide as they were unable to pay their loans, said Kishor Tiwari, part of the Vidarbha Jan Andolan Samiti activist group.
The 32 suicides occurred in 28 districts, in which some 200,000 hectares of crops and about 30 million people were affected by the natural phenomena.
Tiwari said that the region had had losses that amounted to 200,000 million rupees (2.353 million Euro or 3.275 billion dollars).
The activist said that while each farmer had lost 100,000 rupees (about 1,177 Euro or 1,638 dollars), the government's aid only amounted to 4,000 rupees (about 47 Euro or 65 dollars).
The head of government of Maharashtra, Prithviraj Chavan, said that the government was aware of the devastation in the fields and that, as such, they would be addressing the farmers problems immediately.
Chavan asked the affected people not to make emotional decisions, when he referred to the suicides. He also announced an emergency meeting of his government to study aid measures.
The region of Vidarbha is known in India as the land of suicides, especially among farmers who can't afford to pay their loans for seeds and fertilizers.
However, the farmers aren't the only ones who commit suicide, as many soldiers, old people and students also take their own lives.
Source: emol.com