A sheet of hail has covered mountains and fields in Nimar region of Madhya Pradesh's Khargone district but people are not complaining much as they are enjoying the "Kashmir Valley" like experience.
The hailstorm on Sunday affected the crops of some farmers but many others were spared as they had already harvested the produce, officials said. "The hailstorm covered mountains in Jhiranya and fields with snow which gives the feeling of Kashmir valley," said Kothara village sarpanch Ramesh Vaskele.
He said the temperature in March in the Nimar region typically hovers around 40-45 degrees Celsius, but the unexpected change in weather has brought down the mercury. Another villager, Siktabhai Solanki, told PTI such a hailstorm which covered the entire area, was never seen in the region since Independence.
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"Crops of some farmers were damaged but many others were saved as they had harvested the produce. As these areas come under forest villages, not much damage was caused," he said. A farmer, Myan Singh, demanded the administration conduct a survey to assess the damage caused to the crops of some farmers.
Meanwhile, children are enjoying the sudden change in the weather and are playing with ice balls. People are shooting videos of mountains and fields enveloped by hail and circulating them on social media.
Khargone collector Shivraj Singh Verma said not much damage was caused by the unseasonal spell and hailstorm as a majority of farmers had harvested their crops. "Crops of some farmers were damaged. The sub-divisional magistrate (SDM) has been asked to survey the affected area to fix the compensation," he added.
