HYDERABAD: High, above normal temperatures in the afternoon and thunderstorms accompanied by hail and strong winds at some places towards night. According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Telangana is set to experience such fluctuating, extreme weather conditions in the coming few days, much to the chagrin of farmers across the State, who are facing losses to property and life because of the prevailing weather.
The extreme weather conditions claimed the lives of at least three persons over the last two days. On Friday night, a 22-year-old farmer named J Lingaiah of Muthyampet village in Asifabad district, was killed as lightning struck him. He ventured out of home to cover his harvested paddy with a tarpaulin sheet, to protect it from getting drenched in a thunderstorm.
The same night, 50-year-old P Arjiah of Mamidipalli village in Mancherial district died after a wall collapsed on him during a thunderstorm even as he was asleep at home. The thunderstorm also damaged paddy purchasing centres in the district. On Saturday evening, 46-year-old Ch Mallesham of Chakriyal village in Sangareddy district and two of his sheep were killed on being struck by lightning.
From various places in the State, there were reports of standing and harvested crop being damaged due to the thunderstorms, which at a few locations is accompanied by hail and high-speed winds. In Khammam, mango farms spread over 2,000 acre have been damaged due to the thunderstorms.
Hailstorm damages paddy
Mango farmers from Penuballi, Vemsoor, Kalluru, Aswaraopet, Chandrugonda, Dhammapet, and Annapareddypally of the erstwhile Khammam district reported damages. At Gangadhara mandal of Karimnagar, huge heaps of paddy brought to the procurement centres were damaged because of the hailstorm.
Damage to paddy due to hailstorm was also reported from Choppadandi. In Korutla of Jagtial district, a rice mill was damaged due to winds. In a related development, on Saturday, Finance Minister T Harish Rao directed district officials to submit a comprehensive report on the damage caused by the extreme weather conditions to crops and residential buildings.
He also distributed cheques to some farmers as compensation for the losses they faced. Rao distributed cheques worth `1.50 lakh to 47 beneficiaries from 11 villages of Nanganoor mandal and worth `28,800 to nine persons from Chinnakodur.
IMD forecast
While thunderstorms, accompanied by hail and winds is likely at isolated places across the State, maximum temperatures will also remain high, around 41-43 degree Celsius in isolated pockets in the coming four days.