Untimely rains due to the low pressure caused heavy damage to the standing paddy crop in several Telangana districts and horticulture crops, particularly mango, across the State.
Harvested paddy stocked in the fields, procurement centres and in market yards was also damaged. Cotton and chilli crops bore the brunt of the untimely rain. However, there were no reports of loss of life or damage to property.
Huge lossAccording to the Agriculture Department officials, standing paddy crop was badly damaged in over 12,500 acres in Warangal, Nalgonda, Medak and Ranga Reddy districts. Mango crop was damaged in hundreds of acres.
Paddy crop was also damaged to some extent in Mahabubnagar, Karimnagar and Adilabad districts. Officials did not rule out partial damage to standing paddy in a large extent in several districts of Telangana.
Incessant rain led to water-logging in the low-lying localities of Khammam town. Rainwater stagnated around several shops near Sri Sitaramachandra Swamy temple complex in Bhadrachalam following heavy downpour. Some low-lying areas in Hyderabad also suffered water-logging.
Highest rain in MedakAccording to Met officials, Medak recorded the maximum rainfall of 56 mm during the previous 24 hours at 8.30 a.m. on Friday. Nizamabad (38), Mahabubnagar (36), Nandyal (28) and Arogyavaram (22) recorded rain of over 20 mm. Hyderabad city recorded 13 mm rain during the period. Substantial amount of rain was also recorded from morning till noon at several places in Telangana on Friday.
Caught unawaresDisaster Management Department officials asked the Civil Supplies Department to assess the damage caused to the harvested paddy and arrange for its procurement. The farmers and procurement authorities were caught unawares by the untimely rain and lack of sufficient tarpaulin sheets added to the extent of damage.
Meanwhile, Telangana PCC president Ponnala Lakshmaiah, Congress MPs from Telangana G. Vivekanand, Ponnam Prabhakar, G. Sukhender Reddy, S. Rajaiah and Anjan Kumar Yadav urged the Governor to direct the officials to come to the rescue of farmers whose harvested paddy and other crops were damaged and to procure the damaged paddy.
In Khammam district, a tribal woman was struck dead by lightning at Chirumalla in Pinapaka mandal.
The victim was identified as Esam Sujatha, 35, a farm worker.
In Nalgonda district, A.Mamtha (30), a teacher, was killed after her house collapsed in Huzurnagar.