Lightning kills 3 ryots in Mancherial 

Hyderabad: Three farmers died when lightning struck them in Arepalli village in Bhimaram mandal of Mancherial district in the early hours of Sunday. According to sources, the tragedy occurred when they went to the field to take care of their paddy fields.

They were covering the paddy with tarpaulin when lightning struck them. All of them died on the spot. They were identified as Ramtenki Rajaiah, Kummari Babu and Jaadi Ramesh.

Elsewhere in Telangana, hailstorms hit the standing crops in several districts on Sunday. In Andhole mandal in Medak district, harvested paddy in market yards was damaged. In Kaudipalli and Kolcharam mandal, paddy became wet in procurement centres. In several villages in Gummadidala mandal, heavy rain is reported.

In Siddipet and Chinnakoduru mandals in Siddipet district, heavy rains accompanied by gales are wreaking havoc. Hailstorms are reported in Vikarabad, Parigi and Koduru.  The high velocity winds uprooted trees and electric poles in Shabad and Haithaba in Ranga Reddy district.

In Hyderabad, several localities received rain. Though it was very hot till afternoon, the weather suddenly changed with rain bearing clouds began hovering over the city. Suddenly there were winds and rain in several parts.