As cyclonic storm-induced rains took a break in most parts of the district on Tuesday, the heavy rains that lashed the district under the influence of cyclone Gulab on Monday left vast tracts of agricultural fields inundated and various stretches of the highways badly damaged.
Crops in around 3,170 acres were inundated due to waterlogging caused by the heavy rains that battered many parts of the district on Monday, according to preliminary estimates by the Agriculture Department.
Nearly 2720 acres of paddy crops and 450 acres of cotton crops remained under a sheet of rainwater in various mandals across the district, the sources added.
Wyra, Konijerla, Kusumanchi, Thallada, Mudigonda, Yerrupalem and Madhira mandals bore the brunt of the cyclone-induced heavy downpour on Monday.
Though heavy rains have abated in the district, some parts of the district witnessed intermittent spells of drizzle and light rain on Tuesday.
Kusumanchi mandal recorded the highest rainfall of 103 mm in the district in the last 24 hours till 8 am on Tuesday. All the 21 mandals in the district received excess rainfall during the same period.
The Kinnerasani reservoir in Bhadradri-Kothagudem district’s Palvancha mandal received heavy inflows from the catchment areas of the Kinnerasani river in Gundala mandal in the wee hours of Tuesday.
Surplus water was discharged from the reservoir by lifting eight crest gates of the dam.