Rains damage paddy, mango crops across Telangana
For representational purpose only
Mahbubnagar / Adilabad / Karimnagar: Unseasonal rains played havoc in Mahbubnagar, Adilabad and Karimnagar districts on Monday. The sudden rains caused heavy losses, particularly to paddy and mango farmers.
Paddy farmers in Narayanpet, Makthal, Nagarkurnool and Devarkadra suffered huge losses due to the delay in the process of paddy procurement by government agencies. The farmers were seen struggling to protect paddy from getting wet as it would lead to reduction in the money that would be paid to them on the grounds of high moisture content or discolouration.
According to Kondaiah, a farmer from Kottur village in Midjil mandal, it was the second time his paddy crop got drenched in the rain due to delay in the procurement by the government. He had to struggle to stop paddy heaps getting washed away due to heavy downpour on Monday afternoon. In Adilabad district, paddy farmers bore the brunt of heavy rains. Paddy stocks in the market yards got drenched in rainwater. Farmers are worried that they may not get MSP to the wet paddy.
About 50 quintals of paddy which was kept at the purchasing centre got wet. At Amberpet village of Kadam mandal and parts of Kanapur mandal in Nirmal district standing crop got damaged. In a few villages of Jannaram mandal of Mancherial district farmers staged dharna demanding compensation for the unexpected losses.
The old Karimnagar district was also affected by gales and sudden rains. Trees got uprooted on Jagtial- Nizamabad highway and caused huge traffic jams for hours.
Sircilla, Vemulawada, Korutla and Raikal towns also received rains. Local civic authorities struggled to contain the rain-related damages in the low-lying areas. Mango orchids were badly hit by the rains and standing fruit crop was damaged in Kollapur. Narasimha of Narsaipally village said his two-acre mango orchid was badly affected by hailstorm and rain. He said that mangoes had fallen from the tree and got badly damaged. "I was expecting about Rs 3 lakh as returns this season. But the untimely rains have dashed my hopes," he said.