Heavy crop loss due to incessant rains

RAJAMAHENDRAVARAM: There was rain continued on Saturday too in the joint Godavari districts. Due to the continuous rains that have been falling for five days, canals, streams and brooks overflowed in many places in the East Godavari area and caused huge damage. Thousands of acres of paddy, vegetable crops, and horticultural crops were submerged. In some places, roads and culverts were washed away. Some villages were also trapped in water blockades and lost contact with the outside world.

In the East Godavari district, 8000 hectares of paddy fields and 51 hectares of paddy nurseries were submerged due to heavy rains. In Konaseema, 2000 acres of paddy and 10000 acres of prepared nurseries were caught in the flood. In Kakinada district, 1100 hectares of paddy and 50 hectares of paddy nurseries are inundated.

Farmers are complaining that if they remain in the water for another two days, nurseries will rot and they will lose completely. Crop loss is high in Mandapeta, Kapileswarapuram, Katrenikona, Razole and Atreyapuram mandals.

3000 acres of paddy fields in Tallapudi, Kovvur, Chagallu, Gopalapuram, and Nidadavolu mandals have been flooded due to the furious flow of the Kovvada canal. Farmers said that 1,600 acres in Nidadavolu and 750 acres in Nallajerla have been submerged by the Erra kaluva. Erra kaluva is also flowing at dangerous levels in Gundepalli, Telikicharla, Chodavaram and Anantapalli areas.

The Tadipudi canal embankment has been breached on the Yarnagudem-Yadavolu road. In 100 acres submerged. In Gopalapuram 1900 acres of paddy, and 350 acres of sugarcane were inundated. About 6 thousand acres of Nidadavolu are underwater. In Seethanagaram mandal, 2000 hectares of paddy and 100 acres of vegetables are flooded.