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Lightning strikes kill four, hailstorm hits crops in Telangana
According to the Telangana State Planning and Development Society, the state witnessed an average rainfall of 11 mm in the last 24 hours, which it said was unusual this season. The highest rainfall was 87.5 mm recorded at Enkuru in Khammam district
Hyderabad Four people were killed in lightning strikes and horticultural crops in thousands of acres were destroyed as untimely rains, accompanied by thunderous hailstorm, lashed parts of Telangana in the last 24 hours.
State agriculture minister S Niranjan Reddy said the damage was mostly visible in Vikarabad and Ranga Reddy districts, which bore the brunt of the hailstorm.
The minister visited affected crops in Marpalli and Mominpet blocks in Vikarabad district on Friday, along with state education minister Sabita Indra Reddy, Rythu Bandhu Coordination Committee president Palla Rajeshwar Reddy and officials of the agriculture and horticulture department.
Reddy said the intensity of the hailstorm was so high that even the tamarind trees were destroyed in several areas. “There was severe damage to horticulture crops like cabbage, onion, maize, capsicum and watermelon in about 2,000 acres in 13 villages. The officials are assessing the damage and the government will come to the rescue of the affected farmers,” he said.
Similar damage was reported in Nagarkurnool, Sangareddy, Nalgonda and Suryapet districts due to heavy rains, thunderstorms and gusty winds.
According to the Telangana State Planning and Development Society, the state witnessed an average rainfall of 11 mm in the last 24 hours, which it said was unusual this season. The highest rainfall was 87.5 mm recorded at Enkuru in Khammam district and in the Greater Hyderabad Municipal Corporation limits, the highest rainfall was 42.8 mm, at Rajendranagar.
Three persons, all shepherds, were killed when they were struck by lightning on Thursday evening in different parts of Telangana – Balakrishna (22) of Lingasanipalle village of Bijnepalli block in Nagarkurnool district, Vanguru Lakshmi (45) of Chityal village of Wanaparthy district and Jammanna (40) of Aragidda village of Gattu block in Jogulamba Gadwal district.
On Friday, another person – Saida Naik (22), also a shepherd -- died when he was struck by lightning at Chintalatanda hamlet of Nagarjunasagar block in Nalgonda district.
Video footages of huge, white hailstones falling on the ground in several parts of Vikarabad, giving an impression of a snowfall, went viral on social media on Friday.
The Indian Meteorological Department, Hyderabad, said in a bulletin that the untimely rains, accompanied by hailstorms and gale, were due to south-easterly winds and also a trough discontinuity lying from Interior Tamil Nadu to central Madhya Pradesh across Rayalaseema, Telangana and Vidarbha at 0.9 km above sea level.
The department warned that many parts of Telangana would witness a similar weather in the next three days as well.
