DAVANAGERE/CHITRADURGA/ BELAGAVI: Heavy rain accompanied by strong winds that lashed Davanagere and Chitradurga districts for the past two days have damaged paddy, plantain, arecanut and other horticulture crops. At Davanagere taluk, paddy grown on more than 150 acres was damaged due to wild wind and a house also collapsed. In Hiretogaleri village, more than 250 acres of paddy were damaged owing to hailstones.
In Harihar taluk, 2 kacha houses were damaged and 295 acres of paddy was destroyed. At Jagaluru taluk, one house collapsed, 10 kacha houses, arecanut plants grown in 30 acres, plantain in 38 acres and papaya in 20 acres were damaged. A bullock died after it was struck by lightning.
Davanagere district received 13.6 mm average rainfall and the total loss is estimated at Rs 79.40 lakh. Davanagere Deputy Commissioner Shivananda Kaapshi, joint director of Agriculture Srinivas Chinthal and other officials visited the Chikkatogaleri and Hiretogaleri villages of the district to assess the damage.
Meanwhile, in Belagavi district, heavy rain that began on Monday night continued into the early hours of
Tuesday, bringing normal life to a standstill. Several trees were uprooted several trees, damaging power lines and disrupting power supply in different parts of the city.