The condition of the standing crops improved with rains lashing Nizamabad district for the two past days, while Godavari continued to rise at Bhadrachalam, putting the Irrigation and police officials on their toes on Wednesday.
Rain brought cheers to the farming community as the condition of paddy, soyabean, cotton, maize crops and pulses improved.
The crops had almost withered a dry spell continuing for almost entire August.
The rains infused life into these crops. In certain areas where heavy rainfall was recorded, irrigation tanks got filled, but most of the tanks remain either empty or half-filled.
Major reservoirs like Nizamsagar and medium projects - Ramadugu, Pocharam, Singeetham, Kalyani and Lendi received dismal inflows. Sriram Sagar Project received no inflows during current spell of rains but has about 33 tmcf of water in storage. However, the Koulas Nala Project is reportedly receiving considerable amount of inflow.
Jukkal mandal with 60.2 mm recorded the highest amount of rainfall followed by Varni (51 mm), Yedapally (46.2 mm), Birkur (45 mm), Bichkunda (36.2), Pitlam (33.2 mm), Kotagiri (32 mm) and Nizamabad (19.2).
Out of the total of 36 mandals in the district 11 have been declared rain-deficient, 20 are normal and only five have received excess rainfall this season.
Godavari rising
With the water level in the Godavari crossing 31 feet at Bhadrachalam on Wednesday evening, the Police, Irrigation and Fire Services Departments initiated additional measures on the banks of the river to facilitate safe immersion of Ganesh idols. The water level in the river is expected to rise by another one or two feet by Thursday morning. However, it is likely to remain much below the first warning level of 43 feet, sources added.
