Sircilla: Lightning kills farm worker while trying to protect grains

Sircilla: A farm labourer of Chandurti village, Vemulawada mandal had died due to lightning while trying to cover the grains with tarpaulin to protect them from the unexpected rains.

The sudden rains along with hailstorm and lightning on Sunday in are adding hardships to the farmers of the district , who were already burdened with several problems like no transportation, no markets due to the lockdown.

In order to help the farmers, the government had opened purchase centres in every village, but forgot to provide minimum facilities at these centres to face unexpected situations like rainfall. The farmers of Karimnagar, Sircilla and Peddapalli districts, who brought their food grains to the purchase centre, were worried as their produce was totally drowned in rainwater. Standing crops in several parts of these districts were damaged due to heavy rains on Sunday.

District Collector D Krishna Bhaskar inspected the damaged crop due to rainfall in Veernapalli mandal on Sunday. Manakondur MLA Rasamai Balakishan inspected grains soaked in rainwater at a purchase centre in Thadikal mandal. Choppadandi MLA Sunke Ravi Shankar checked grains got wet in Kolimikunta village of Choppadandi mandal of Karimnagar district. They assured the farmers that the government will purchase every grain they brought to the purchasing centre.

In Sultanabad mandal of Peddapalli district, about 4,500 quintals of paddy drowned in rainwater.