The Norwester (Kalbaisakhi) that swept through parts of Bengal this weekend destroyed several farmers’ spring harvest of betel, vegetables and paddy across the districts of East Midnapore and West Midnapore at a time they were struggling to overcome the setback suffered in the lockdown.

The storm, which was partially a hailstorm, particularly ravaged West Midnapore’s Sabang block, where sources estimate roughly 70,000 farmers’ spring produce has been destroyed.

“We are requesting the state government to give immediate compensation for these farmers. They were already facing a tough time ever since the outbreak of the coronavirus,” said Sabang MLA Gita Bhunia, adding that landowners and farmers in several districts in Bengal were deprived of the seasonal migrant labour during harvest because of lockdown regulations.

“We have sent the district administration a letter demanding compensation for lakhs of farmers,” said Bhunia, who along with Trinamul MP Manas Bhunia, officials of the zilla parishad and district agriculture department visited a few affected blocks in Sabang on Monday.

District officials in West Midnapore confirmed on Monday that the state agriculture department had started surveying villages to assess the losses and determine eligibility for compensation.

They estimated that 25 blocks in West Midnapore and 21 in East Midnapore had been seriously affected.

“We were prepared to toil hard for the harvest before the Norwesters arrived, but the lockdown deprived us of the requisite labour,” said Jugalkishore Shee, 62, a farmer at Basantapur in Sabang who owns two acres of land.

“But no one has been allowed in even from the neighbouring districts. We were left with no option but to see most of our crop get destroyed in the storm. We need some form of compensation,” he added.

Swapan Jana, 55, who owns three acres of land, echoed Shee and said the harvest could not be taken home because of the absence of labourers.

The officials said nearly 5 lakh acres of land were cultivated with boro dhan in East Midnapore this year. They estimate that nearly 3 lakh acres could have been spoiled by the Norwester combined with a delayed harvest owing to the lockdown.