KARIMNAGAR: Heavy, untimely rains battered vegetable crops and mango plantations in Karimnagar, Jagtial, Peddapalli and Rajanna-Sircilla districts on Sunday. A shepherd in Vennampalli village of Peddapalli district died because of a lightning strike and at Durshed village, a farmer’s house with a tin roof was swept away in the rains.
Meanwhile, at paddy procurement centres, farmers suffered huge losses as large quantities of harvested paddy were either washed away or damaged because of strong winds and waterlogging. The delay in paddy procurement is forcing farmers to rent tarpaulins to cover the crops, yet the hailstorms are no match for the level of protection the plastic sheets offer.
A paddy procurement centre at Rudrangi in the Rajanna-Sircilla district resembled a pond because of waterlogging. On Rajiv Rahadari (State Highway No.1), tree branches fell on the roads, resulting in massive traffic jams. Several regions plunged into darkness as the electricity supply was also disrupted.