Standing crop in 2.26 lakh hectares was submerged due to the heavy rain caused by Cyclone Nilam, according to preliminary reports of the Agriculture Department.
Agriculture Deputy Director Balu Naik on Monday told The Hindu that paddy was submerged in 1,30,966 acres (53,000 hectares). Similarly cotton was submerged in 91,429 acres (37,000 hectares), Maize in 2,916 acres, groundnut in 900 acres and blackgram in 272 acres.
More than 30 mandals in Krishna district received 10 cm or more of rainfall on a single day on November 3 due to the impact of depression caused by Nilam. Vissannapeta received 27.8 cm, other upland mandals like G. Kondur, Ibrahimpatnam, Tiruvuru, Mylavaram, and Chatrai, received more than 20 cm and Krishna district totally received 58.5 cm rainfall on that single day against the normal average rainfall of 5 cm for the whole of November.
Secondary Education Minister Kolusu Parthasarathi in a statement asked the district administration to ensure proper enumeration of damaged crop, without leaving out any of the affected genuine farmers. The Minister, who is away in New Delhi, had been monitoring the situation closely and remained in regular touch with the district Collector, Joint Collector, Vijayawada Municipal Commissioner and Irrigation SE, according to a statement on Monday.
The Minister also monitored the flood in Budameru and gave directions to the irrigation officials on regulating the flow into Budameru diversion canal.
The Minister, who received complaints from farmers that the flow of water in drains was blocked due to tape grass and water hyacinth growth, told the Irrigation officials to have the obstructions removed using cranes or earthmovers if necessary.
Mr. Parthasarathi said that he was in New Delhi to attend a meeting of Education Ministers and that he was keeping Chief Minister N. Kiran Kumar Reddy informed about the developments in the district.
