Warangal: Unseasonal rains plunge farmers in chaos again

Warangal: For the second time in a span of one month, the unseasonal rains combined with hailstorm wreaked havoc on standing crops in the erstwhile Warangal district. The rains that lashed the region on Friday, Saturday and Sunday damaged standing crops maize, paddy, mango and other crops in thousands of acres, according to preliminary information. The rains also caused damage to the paddy stored at procurement centres. According to an estimate, unseasonal rains and hailstorm damaged crops in over 80,000 acres in the erstwhile Warangal district in March this year.

According to reports, paddy ready for harvesting was flattened by the unseasonal rains in several mandals – Hasanparthi, Kamalapur, Bheemadevarapally, Elkathurthy, Dharmasagar. In Warangal district, farmers in Narsampet constituency suffered a huge loss due to the rains. It was a huge blow for the farmers who were already worried over low yield in this Rabi. In Jangaon district, hailstorms damaged paddy and other crops in 21,559 acres spread across Station Ghanpur, Bachchannapet, Lingala Ghanapur and Jangaonmandals. Jangaon district collector Ch Shivalingaiah inspected fields where crop damage was severe in Peddapahad and Vadlakonda villages.

Meanwhile, the unseasonal rains coupled with gales and hailstorm flattened the crop in the paddy fields. Farmers in eight mandals of Mahabubabad district also suffered crop damage. The winds also uprooted several power poles and trees. According to Mahabubabad District Collector K Shashanka, rains damaged crops in over 11,621 acres. He said that officials will figure out the loss after the enumeration. Meanwhile, a heavy rain on Sunday left many colonies waterlogged in Hanumakonda.