Rain, hailstorm destroys crops, stalls traffic

HYDERABAD: Heavy rain, with hailstorms, in many parts of Telangana and elsewhere in state in the last two days caused serious damage to crops and fruit orchards. Waterlogging and traffic jams were witnessed in several areas of Hyderabad, while the temperature was brought down.

Warangal, Nalgonda, Khammam and other districts in Telangana bore the brunt of the untimely rains, where hundreds of acres of standing jowar, paddy and other crops, besides plantain, mango and other fruit plantations suffered severe losses.

Heavy rain and hailstorms in different parts of Hyderabad city resulted in inundation of several roads and low-lying areas, causing hardship to motorists and people as severe traffic jams were witnessed across the city.

In Marredpally, a dilapidated building caved in, but no one was hurt. The city and its neighbourhood have been experiencing inclement weather with overcast sky and frequent rain or showers for the last couple of days.

Due to waterlogging, traffic came to a halt in Ramanthapur, Uppal, Secunderabad, Tarnaka, Begumpet, Punjagutta, Khairatabad, Jubilee Hills, Lakadi-ka-pul, Masab Tank, Mehdipatnam, Bowenpally, RP Road, Mettuguda, Banjara Hills, Hayathnagar and a few places in the old city.

At some places, hoardings crashed and trees were uprooted. Meanwhile, the weather office has forecast heavy rainfall in Telangana and isolated rain in Rayalaseema and Coastal Andhra Pradesh during the next 48 hours.

According to the Met department, light to moderate rain or thundershowers, with or without hail, would occur at a few places over Telangana in the next two days.

Rain or thundershowers would occur at isolated places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh and Rayalaseema during the same period, the Met office said in a bulletin here on Tuesday.

The sky over Hyderabad and its neighbourhood would be generally cloudy over the next two days. Maximum and minimum temperatures would be around 27 and 20 degrees Celsius respectively.

The maximum temperatures appreciably fell at a few places over Telangana and Rayalaseema and at one or two places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh. They were markedly below normal at one or two places over Telangana, appreciably below normal at many places over Rayalaseema and at a few places over Coastal Andhra Pradesh.

Meanwhile, TRS President, K Chandrasekhara Rao in letter addressed to Governor, ESL Narasimhan requested him to come to the rescue of the distress farmers. A detailed survey should be conducted on the crop damage and adequate compensation should be provided.