Rains in Siddipet: Crops in 82,000 acres damaged

Finance Minister T Harish Rao said the Telangana government would extend a compensation of Rs.10,000 to each and every acre that was damaged due to unseasonal rains

Siddipet: The unseasonal rains and heavy winds have caused massive damage in Siddipet, with initial estimates pegging the spread of the damage over 82,000 acres. While the damage till Wednesday was 35,000 acres, the rains last night are said to have caused damage to crops in another 47,000 acres.

Finance Minister T Harish Rao, speaking to the media in Dubbaka after visiting 25 villages across Siddipet and Dubbaka constituencies to inspect the damage throughout Wednesday, said the Telangana government would extend a compensation of Rs.10,000 to each and every acre that was damaged due to unseasonal rains. He said no State in the country was giving more than Rs.3,000 as compensation to farmers.

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Suggesting the Centre to extend support to farmers in Telangana, the Minister asked the union government to announce an additional Rs.10,000 as compensation to farmers. The paddy crop suffered the maximum damage in the district due to the untimely rains coupled with hailstorms on Tuesday night. Suggesting to the farmers to take up plantation of paddy a month early to get them the harvest in March, Rao said hailstorms and gales usually hit Telangana during April and May.

Stating that Chief Minister K Chandrashekhar Rao had asked him to examine the extent of the loss in the district, he asked agriculture officials to assess the crop loss by including all farmers who suffered losses due to the rains.

Rao began his field visits from Nancharupally at 9 am and concluded by 7pm after covering 25 villages. Medak MP Kotha Prabhakar Reddy, Collector Prasanth Jeevan Patil and others accompanied the Minister.

Meanwhile, heavy rains continued to hit normal life in Siddipet with several trees and electric poles being uprooted. Power supply was disrupted in many places and some houses too reported damages.