Karimnagar: Unseasonal rain accompanied by hail and thunderstorms that occurred at night on Tuesday has caused huge damage to standing and harvested crops in the erstwhile Karimnagar district.
The unexpected rain and hailstorm had inflicted heavy loss on standing and harvested crops particularly paddy, maize, cotton and chilli along with papaya and mango and other crops.
Asbestos roofs of several roadside shops and tiles of some houses in Thimmapur mandal and other towns were blown off during the heavy rain accompanied by gusty winds.
This has come as a rude shock to the residents of Rampur, Bhagat Nagar and Ganeshnagar colonies in Karimnagar. The rain water entered the houses and commercial establishments, causing a huge loss.
The unexpected rain hurt farmers badly as their harvested crop stocked at IKP centres without any basic facilities and sans protection, along with the standing crop in the fields, was inundated under the impact of the heavy downpour.
While the decision by the state government to purchase paddy from the farmers came a bit late, the officials geared up to open IKP in the districts of Karimnagar, Peddapalli, Jagtial and Rajanna Siricilla to purchase the paddy from the farmers. They also started purchasing food grains by opening only some of the centres in four districts.
Some farmers alleged that even though the paddy procurement centre was opened a few days back, the officials did not purchase their produce. The produce was kept in the open, outside the market yards and IKP centres, without any protection, they stated.
Mahendar Reddy, a farmer of Bommakal mandal, said he had cultivated paddy on four acres of land and got a good yield. After harvesting the crop to sell his produce, he brought it to the IKP centre. But the officials did not open the centre till date.
So, he kept his produce in an open area outside the purchasing centre. The unexpected rainfall soaked his entire produce in rainwater even though he had covered it with tarpaulins brought from his house.
Agriculture officer Nagamani said that with the sudden unexpected rain and gusty winds at night on Tuesday, the foodgrains at IKP centres got soaked in rainwater. It is also learnt that, at many places, damage occurred to the standing crop. By carrying out a survey, the extent of crop loss can be assessed and a report prepared, to be sent to the higher authorities.
