KAMAREDDY/NIZAMABAD: Unseasonal rains struck several parts of Kamareddy and Nizamabad districts on Saturday evening, resulting in significant crop damage. In Kamareddy, crops across 20,000 acres were affected, while in Nizamabad, damage was reported in more than 6,000 acres.
According to official reports, Kamareddy, which has 24 mandals, witnessed an average rainfall of 21.4 mm, with the highest rainfall recorded at 50.8 mm in Sadashivanagar Mandal and the lowest at 1.3 mm in Pedda Kodapgal mandal. In Nizamabad district, which has 33 mandals, the average rainfall was 10.6 mm. The highest recorded rainfall was 36.5 mm in Sirikonda mandal, while the lowest was 0.9 mm in Balkonda.
Between 7.00 pm and 8.30 pm on Saturday, strong winds, lightning, thunderbolts, and hail storms were witnessed in various parts of Nizamabad and Kamareddy, causing damage to crops and infrastructure. Trees were uprooted, and power lines were damaged, leading to power outages in several areas.
According to Nizamabad District Agricultural Officer (DAO) Wazid Hussain, preliminary reports indicate that crops across 6,058 acres belonging to 3,076 farmers in 44 villages of 10 mandals have been damaged. The final report will be submitted after a detailed assessment of the crop damage, he said. Similarly, Kamareddy DAO Bhagya Lakshmi said that reports show that crops across 20,071 acres in 130 villages of 15 mandals have been damaged, affecting 14,553 farmers. Paddy, maize, and jowar were among the worst-hit crops.
Meanwhile, former Assembly speaker and Banswada MLA Pocharam Srinivas Reddy, along with Kamareddy MLA K V Ramana Reddy, visited 25 affected villages to assess the damage and interact with farmers. They promised to submit a detailed report to the government to seek compensation for the affected farmers and said that the state government should implement the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana for crop insurance.
Nizamabad TSNPDCL superintendent engineer R Ravindar assured that power supply has been restored across all parts of the district after the disruptions caused by the rains.