Telangana govt will compensate hailstorm hit farmers: Gangula Kamalakar 

Hailstorms coupled with strong winds dashed the hopes of farmers in the erstwhile Karimnagar district

Karimnagar: Hailstorms coupled with strong winds dashed the hopes of farmers in the erstwhile Karimnagar district.

Besides property damage, standing crops were also affected following the unseasonal rains that hit several parts of Karimnagar, Jagtial, Peddapalli and Rajanna-Sircilla district on Thursday night as well as Saturday evening.

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While paddy crops, which were ready for harvesting, have fallen, the harvested crop stored at paddy procurement centres was soaked in the rain in a big way. Mango growers too are a worried lot much as 50 percent of the crop reportedly being damaged.

BC Welfare and Civil Supplies Minister Gangula Kamalakar along with officials examined damaged paddy crops in Chamanapalli, Bahadurkhanpet and Taheerkondapur of Karimnagar rural mandal on Sunday.

Interacting with the farmers, the Minister said the State government would provide compensation for the damaged crops. The latest hailstorm was a big blow to the farming community, which had already lost 20 to 30 percent crop in the earlier hailstorm, he said.

Paddy crop was completely damaged in Choppadandi, Gangadhara and Huzurabad mandals. Crop spread in 5,000 acres was damaged in Chamanapalli, Bahadurkhanpet, Taheerkondapur, Jubileenagar, Cherlabuthkur and Mugdumpur of Karimnagar rural mandal.

Talking about the paddy that got soaked in PPCs, the Minister said the same would be purchased under parboiled category. The crop damage details would be sent to the State government within three days, he said.