Large-scale damage was caused to cotton in the last two days in the district.
The rain continued on Wednesday and all rivers and streams were brimming over. Hundreds of villages remained cut off from mandal headquarters towns as roads were submerged. APSRTC has suspended bus services to many villages due to rain.
It was a jolt to the farmers sector who were waiting for bumper returns thanks to good rain in the month.
Cotton was in the last stage of picking when rain hit the district. The farmers were shocked at the intensity of the rain which is expected to damage the yield. Cotton Corporation of India (CCI) said it would set up procurement centres to buy stocks from farmers from Friday.
The rains caused massive loss to the farmers as the quality of kapas would be reduced resulting in rejections by the CCI. The CCI would buy cotton from the farmers based on prescribed specifications, including the length of the kapas and moisture.
Paddy fields in Naguluppalapadu, Addanki, Korisapadu mandals were marooned due to floods. Farmers in Purchur, Marturu, Darsi, Podili, Chimakurthy, Santhanuthalapadu, Maddipadu have kept their fingers crossed as the crops were expected to be damaged due to the massive rain. Ground nut, bengal gram and vegetable crops, too, have received extensive damage. Horticulture crops in Ulavapadu, Kandukur, Kanigiri and Tangutur mandals also damaged due to the massive rain. The drought-hit areas of Pullalacheruvu, PC Palle, Pamuru and Jarugumalli received heavy rain in the last 24 hours.
Meanwhile, water entered residential colonies in the low-lying areas in Ongole city. The several colonies were turned into ponds with heavy rain on Wednesday. District collector Pola Bhaskar directed all municipal commissioners and tehsildars to remain at the headquarters and take up relief measures. He asked the officials to shift people from low-lying areas to relief camps.
Source - https://timesofindia.indiatimes.com
