Rain ravage extensive in Telangana

Though the thundershowers could bring much needed respite to the general public from the heat wave conditions that prevailed all over the State, farmers have had to pay a big price.

Hyderabad: Untimely rains and hailstorms wreaked havoc on the Yasangi operations in several districts in the State over the last two days, once again bringing farmers to their knees. Yasangi crop in over 2000 acres was damaged, according to preliminary estimates of the Agriculture Department.

Though the thundershowers could bring much needed respite to the general public from the heat wave conditions that prevailed all over the State, farmers have had to pay a big price.

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The rain ravage is said to be extensive in the districts of Nizamabad, Kamareddy Rajanna Sircilla, Nalgonda and Rangareddy. The hailstorms left a trail of destruction not only on paddy but on mango crops as well. The Agriculture Department has directed the officials of the respective districts to take stock of the rain-ravage.

The paddy farmers, who moved their harvest from the farms to the road point for drying up paddy before shifting to the purchase centres, were hit badly. The stocks were either exposed to heavy rain or washed away. Farmers struggled to protect the paddy stocks from the downpour.

Rain-soaked paddy to boiled rice mills

A rainfall of 5.5 cm was registered within hours in Indalwayi mandal of Nizamabad district, 3.5 cm in Kundukur in Rangareddy, 2.7 cm in Vernapalli in Rajanna Sircilla, and 2 cm in Kadtal in Rangareddy district. Mango farmers in Sathupalli and Khammam also were hit by the hailstorms.

Responding to the situation, the Civil Supplies department on Saturday directed officials to ensure purchase of rain-soaked paddy also wherever possible.

The department had given a boiled rice target of four lakh metric tons to the districts, and the paddy exposed to rain would be procured and shifted immediately to the boiled rice mills. Tarpaulins are being made available to the needy farmers to protect the paddy stocks from the showers, officials said.

“We are collecting information from all the affected districts. The impact is said to be relatively more in Nizamabad district,” said M Raghunandan Rao, Secretary, Department of Agriculture.