ADILABAD: Four farmers, including a man and his son, died after walls and tin sheds collapsed at two paddy procurement centres during heavy rain and gales in Luxettipet mandal of Mancherial district on Tuesday night. Five others were injured and are undergoing treatment.
The victims were identified as Tanugula Abhiram (22), his father Tanugula Nagaraju (55), Gundarapu Venkatesh (24) and Nelki Lachanna (55).
According to police, unseasonal rain and strong winds lashed the area on Tuesday night. Farmers rushed to procurement centres in Kothur and Gampalpelli villages on two-wheelers to protect their paddy stocks using tarpaulin sheets.
At the Gampalpelli procurement centre, several farmers took shelter inside a sawmill tin shed during the rain. Due to strong winds, the wall and tin shed collapsed. Abhiram died on the spot, while his father died while being shifted to hospital.
At the Kothur procurement centre, around six farmers were standing under a tin shed when a wall collapsed due to heavy winds. Gundarapu Venkatesh and Nelki Lachanna died in the incident.
Police said Lachanna, a native of Muthyampet village in Dandepalli mandal, had come to Luxettipet to send his son to Hyderabad. While returning, he took shelter at the procurement centre due to the rain, when the shed collapsed. The injured farmers were shifted to Luxettipet hospital for treatment.
Saddula Harish, who sustained grievous injuries, was later shifted to a hospital in Karimnagar.
Mancherial MLA Prem Sagar Rao visited the affected families and announced `2 lakh compensation each from his personal funds. The state government also announced an ex gratia of `5 lakh each to the families of the deceased.
Ramagundam police commissioner Amber Kishore Jha and Mancherial DCP A Bhaskar inspected the spots and supervised rescue efforts at night. Officials said paddy stocks were damaged in several places due to the unseasonal rain, while trees were uprooted in parts of the district. Police cleared fallen trees during the night to prevent traffic disruptions.
BRS STAGES ROAD BLOCKADE OVER ‘GOVT DEATHS’
ADILABAD: BRS leaders and activists, along with relatives of the farmers who died in the shed collapse incidents at procurement centres, staged a road blockade on the Adilabad-Mancherial road in Luxettipet on Thursday, demanding `50 lakh compensation for the victims’ families.
Traffic was disrupted for nearly two hours. BRS general secretary T Jeevan Reddy and former Mancherial MLA N Divakar Rao joined the protest. Jeevan Reddy termed the deaths “government deaths” and blamed delays in paddy procurement and transportation. Family members alleged that procurement had been delayed for nearly 20 days and paddy stocks were not being transported due to a shortage of lorries.
They also alleged irregularities in weighing and unloading at procurement centres and rice mills. The protest ended after the district collector assured protesters that their demand for Rs 50 lakh ex gratia would be conveyed to the state government. BJP leaders also staged a protest, with BJP leader A Raghunath alleging that delays in procurement and transportation forced farmers to stay at procurement centres for days.
