Strong winds damaged standing banana crops in Gobichettipalayam block here on Monday night. Crops that were ready for harvesting at Aligiyam, Kurumandur Medu, Andavarmalai, Boodimadai Pudur and Kottupullampalayam were damaged in the winds. Farmers said that heavy rain accompanied by strong winds had damaged their crops completely that are ready for harvesting. They said that crops in over 50 acre were damaged and wanted compensation and also coverage under crop insurance scheme. They said that the government is yet to provide compensation for the crop loss that happened due to natural calamity last year. “We had borrowed and cultivated the crop. But now we face extensive loss”, they said. Revenue officials are in the processing of estimating the crop damage in the villages on Tuesday. Heavy rain lashed Salem on Monday night with the district recording an average rainfall of 17.1 mm. Two houses of daily wagers in Kitchipalayam and Moonamkaradu areas respectively collapsed. However, no causalities were reported. Three persons, who slipped into a canal near Shevapet, were rescued by fire and rescue personnel on Monday night. Meanwhile, the water level at Mettur dam stood at 68.67ft against a total scale of 120ft. The stored capacity of water in the dam was 31,570 mcft. The inflow to the dam was 3,820 cusecs of water and outflow from the dam was maintained at 10,000 cusecs of water. Source - https://www.thehindu.com