Khetia: Standing crop worth more than Rs 1.5 Lakh destroyed in fire

Khetia (Madhya Pradesh): Standing wheat and sugarcane crop in a farm located in Khetia village of Barwani district was gutted in a fire on Friday. The fire was reportedly caused by a short circuit in the overhead electrical wiring passing through the fields. The value of the crops destroyed in the fire is over Rs 1.5 lakh approximately.

The owner of the farms, Vishal Patel and Vinod Patel said that ripe and ready to harvest crops of sugarcane and wheat were reduced to ashes due to a short-circuit in the overhead wires. The fire created panic in the nearby area. On being informed, additional Tehsildar Hukum Singh Nigwal along with the revenue team reached the scene for inspection of crop loss and ordered registration of a case and initiation of a probe into the cause of fire.

Farmers claimed that overhead electricity wires are around 20-25 years old. They have alerted the electricity department many times but officials have not paid any heed to it. Nigwal said that if it is established that the fire had taken place due to the negligence of the electricity department, then compensation to the farmers for their loss could be considered. A further probe has been ordered into the cause of the fire.