Thunderstorms and gales leave farming community shattered in Telangana

Thunderstorms and gales devastated Telangana, soaking paddy and maize stocks at procurement centres, worsening farmers’ woes amid delayed government purchases. Heavy  rainfall in Sangareddy, Siddipet, and Medak caused crop losses, prompting demands for immediate procurement before monsoon entry predicted within a week 

Hyderabad: Thunderstorms coupled with gales lashed several parts of Telangana leaving a trail of destruction and trauma to the farmers as paddy and maize stocks at the procurement centres got soaked in the early hours of Wednesday.

Farming community, which is already reeling under the incompetence of the Government leading to inordinate delay in procurement of paddy and maize, has been dealt a double blow with the paddy and maize stocks were completely soaked leading to heavy losses.

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Incidents of crop damage at procurement centres were reported from Mahabubnagar, Rangareddy, Nalgonda, Suryapet, Medak, Siddipet, Karimnagar, Adilabad, Asifabad, Warangal, Nizamabad among several other districts.

In Sangareddy, thunderstorms coupled with gales lashed most parts of the erstwhile Medak district. The paddy farmers, who brought their harvest to procurement centres, bore the burnt as the rain water flooded into the procurement centres at many places.

Paddy was swept away along with the flood at several places. Though the farmers woke up at midnight to save their harvest by covering them with tarpaulin sheetss, their effort proved ineffective as the rain water swept away crops at several places.

The farmers were trying to salvage their harvest from water on Wednesday morning. Vatpally in Sangareddy district recorded 75 mm rainfall while Nyalkal recorded 73 mm followed by Hathnoora with 68 mm rainfall.

Angadi Kistapur in Markook mandal of Siddipet district recorded 65 mm rainfall while Kagazmaddur in Medak recorded 48 mm rainfall. The delay in procurement of the paddy cost the farmers dearly as the rains lashed most parts of the district.

The farmers have demanded the government to purchase the wet paddy without any delay. They said that protection of harvest is going to be tough since the IMD was also predicting the entry of monsoon into the state in a week’s time.

Mancherial/Adilabad: Gales coupled with unseasonal rains damaged paddy and maize stored to platforms and procurement centres in both Mancherial district and Adilabad districts on Tuesday evening.

Several parts of Mancherial district saw brief spells of rains accompanied by strong winds, affecting the paddy and maize in Dandepalli, Kasipet, Mandamarri, Naspur, Thandur and Bellampalli mandals. Farmers said that they registered losses due to the unexpected rains and gales. They urged officials to extend compensation by conducting surveys of crop damage.

Similarly, jowar produce shifted to a market yard was soaked in showers in Sathnala mandal centre of Adilabad district. The growers staged a sit-in at the market yard demanding that the government procure the wet grains. They said that the produce was damaged due to delay in transporting the grains to a warehouse.

Meanwhile, electric poles were flattened due to gales, disrupting supply of power to several villages in Bellampalli, Mandamarri and Dandepalli mandals. People were forced to stay awake all night. Electricity was restored on Wednesday morning, bringing relief to the public. The showers, however, brought relief to the people from sweltering heatwave conditions.