KHAMMAM: Untimely rains have caused excessive damage to maize, paddy and mango crops in the erstwhile Khammam district. The rain also damaged compound walls and staircases of 11 2BHK houses out of 18 being constructed under the double bedroom housing scheme in Nelapatla village of Kusumanchi mandal. Villagers alleged that the structure had collapsed as poor quality raw materials were being used for the construction.
They demanded the government to take action against the contractor. Maize crop in 8,000 acres and paddy in 7,000 acres were also destroyed. Mangoes were damaged in Palair constituency, Sattupalli, Aswaraopet, Dammapet, Julurpad, Enkoor and other places.
According to reports, large area of mango plantation were damaged in Kallur mandal. It is estimated that `7 lakh worth of banana plantation was destroyed due to rain in Bhadrachalam .Chillies that were kept for drying in Bhadrachalam, Enkoor and Julurpad mandals also got wet due to untimely rain.
K Rama Rao, a farmer of Kusumanchi said, “Maize crop has reached harvesting stage. But the untimely rains have dashed our hopes.” With no MSP being provided to farmers for crop loss this year, they say they have incurred huge losses.