Cotton, chilly in 1.60 lakh acres damaged in Khammam district

Khammam: With the depression having moved over to Gulbarga in Karnataka, authorities are busy assessing the damage to crops and property in the district.

It is estimated that heavy rains that lashed the old Khammam district during the last 48 hours had resulted in damage to crops in about 1.60 lakh acres. Cotton and chilly crops suffered maximum damage leaving farmers crest fallen.

According to reports available so far, the Joint director Agriculture, Khammam district, M Vijayanirmala, said that they have reports of damage to crops in 84,000 acres. This consists of paddy in 47,000 acres, cotton 37,000 acres, in addition to other crops. The extent of damage could be more and detailed assessment was yet to take place.

According to the Joint Director of Agriculture Bhadradri district, K Abhimanyudu, paddy crop submerged in 7,012 acres, cotton 686 acres, chilly 200 acres and other crops like groundnuts and pulses were also submerged.

District Collector of Bhadradri-Kothagudem MV Reddy instructed the officials of the Agriculture department to visit fields and take up proper assessment of damage to the crops. Khammam District Collector RV Karnan also visited villages which were affected by rains and assured farmers all possible help. He visited Kallur and Sattupalli areas and interacted with the farmers.

Meanwhile, Khammam MP Nama Nageswara Rao instructed the district-level officials to take all precautions and steps to rescue the people in these crises. He also directed the officials to shift people who are in low-lying areas and provide all facilities to them. He asked the engineering department to get repaired the damaged roads immediately. On the other hand, Godavari is rising at Bhadrachalam and the water level at 4 pm was 22.2 feet and it may rise further, officials said.