Sudden unseasonal rains caused extensive damage to the paddy which was harvested and bought to various procurement centres in Karimnagar and Rajanna-Sircilla districts in the early hours of Sunday.
With the harvesting of paddy, several farmers bought their produce to the procurement centres at IKP and primary agricultural cooperative societies in various villages. As there was a delay in the procurement of paddy due to inadequate labour, shortage of gunny bags etc, the paddy was lying in the open at the procurement centres.
Sudden rains early in the morning came as a rude shock to the farmers as the paddy kept at the procurement centres was badly damaged and in some parts, it was also washed away. The paddy was damaged as it was not protected with tarpaulins etc. The standing crop which was ready for harvesting was also damaged in the sudden rains in both the districts.
Rajanna-Sircilla District Collector D Krishna Bhaskar toured various villages of Veernapalli mandal where the crop was damaged extensively and interacted with the farmers. He also inspected the fields to see the damages caused to the standing crop ready for harvesting.
Choppadandi legislator Sunke Ravishankar toured the villages affected by rains in Choppadandi, Ramadugu and Gangadhara mandals. He assured the farmers community that the State government would procure the damaged paddy and asked the farmers to dry the crop for some more days.
Expressing concern over the damages, he told the farmers not to worry. “We will purchase the paddy. Chief Minister K Chandrasekhar Rao had also assured that they would purchase each grain from the farmers”, he pointed out.
