Rain damage: Govt will ensure relief for farmers, says KT Rama Rao

IT Minister KT Rama Rao said, "All the MLAs and other public representatives of the State should give assurance to the farmers in this difficult time."

Hyderabad: Unseasonal rains coupled with strong winds have left a trail of destruction across agricultural fields in several districts in the State.

According to reports, paddy, mango and other crops were damaged on thousands of acres across Mahabubnagar, Jogulamba Gadwal, Nagarkurnool, Narayanpet and Wanaparthy, Nizamabad and Kamareddy districts, while similar damage was reported from the erstwhile Warangal, Karimnagar, erstwhile Mahabubnagar, Nizamabad, Siddipet and Nalgonda districts.

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Lightning strikes killed 10 cattle including oxen at Lingala village of SS Tadwai mandal of Mulugu district on Tuesday evening. Various crops spread in 44,000 acres were damaged in the rains in Karimnagar so far in April, while the heavy rains and hailstorms in April have damaged crops in 7,447 acres in Nalgonda district.

Assuring all possible help to farmers affected by the unseasonal rains and hail storms, Bharat Rashtra Samithi Working President and IT Minister KT Rama Rao said the State government would stand by the farmers and take all administrative and relief measures to help them.

Stating that the farmers of the State should not worry about the losses caused by the rain, the Minister directed MLAs and other people’s representatives to visit the affected areas and reassure the farmers that the government would take measures to overcome the situation.

“All the MLAs and other public representatives of the State should give assurance to the farmers in this difficult time,” he said.

He reminded that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had recently visited all the rain affected areas of the State and assured all possible help to farmers hit by unseasonal rains and hailstorms. “There is a pro-farmer government in the State. They should not lose courage and remember that CM is standing by them,” he said.

In view of the forecast of heavy rain for the next one or two days, the Minister asked the authorities to make all officials of the State available for relief measures. Earlier, the Minister spoke to Sircilla Collector Anurag Jayanthi, Superintendent of Police Akhil Mahajan and agriculture department officials over phone and enquired about untimely rains and its impact in the district.