Unseasonal downpour that lashed down on Saturday coupled with gusty winds have wreaked havoc across Raichur district. Vishwanath (33), a native of Kurnool district in Andhra Pradesh, was taking shelter under a Neem tree when lightning struck him dead.
Heavy rain and storm threw normal life out of gear in Raichur, Sirwar, Deodurg, Manvi, Mudgal and other urban centres with low-lying areas being waterlogged for hours. Patel Road, Chandramouleshwar Circle, Netaji Road, Vasavi Nagar and other areas in the city were inundated for a couple of hours on Saturday night.
Fallen trees and electric poles, ripped off roofs , flattened paddy crops on vast tracts of fields and soaked heaps of harvested chilli, were common scenes on Sunday in the rural areas.
Farmers in irrigated belts along the Tungabhadra Left Bank Canal and Narayanpur Right Bank Canal were among the worst hit.
Storms have partially flattened the summer paddy crop that was at its reproductive and ripening stage on around 3 lakh acres of land in Manvi, Sindhanur and Deodurg taluks.
Farmers said that both the quality and quantity of the crops would be diminished now.
In some parts of the district, particularly in the rural areas of Deodurg taluk, the standing and harvested red chilli crop was partially destroyed in the rains. Chilli growers on Sunday afternoon were found sun-drying their soaked chilli crop across the taluk.
Three units of Raichur Thermal Power Station were temporarily shut down on Saturday night. Operations resumed on the same night.
Another round of rain lashed on Sunday morning for half an hour in and around the city. However, by noon, the sky was almost clear.
Heavy rain claimed the life of a nine-year-old girl in Chillargi village in Bidar taluk on Sunday.
Deepika Prakash Ankare was standing by the side of the village community hall when a portion of the building’s parapet wall fell on her and she was crushed to death. Villagers said the eight-year-old building was already in a dilapidated condition and was further weakened by rain since Saturday.
Tahasildar Lakshman Rao and police officials rushed to the village. The post mortem was conducted in the village hospital. A case has been registered in the Bidar rural police station.
Heavy rain lashed most parts of the district on Saturday night and Sunday morning. Officials recorded 54 mm of rainfall in the district in the last 24 hours. They suspect that some crops like Jowar, pulses and mango suffered damage. Strong winds flew away tin sheets of some houses in Chitaguppa. Daytime temperatures that touched 41 degree Celsius last week, came down drastically to 26 degrees Celsius on Sunday morning. Several roads were flooded in the old city. Some parts of the city suffered power cuts.
