Rains are bringing the relief to farmers

 After a long dry spell, rains lashed Telangana on Friday bringing much-needed relief to farmers. While it was light to moderate in many places, heavy downpour was witnessed in some areas. The highest rainfall of 8 cm was recorded at Venkatapuram in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district over the last 24 hours.

Heavy rain occurred at a few places in Jayashankar Bhupalpally district, and at isolated places in the districts of Warangal Rural and Kamareddy. Several parts of the erstwhile Warangal district received moderate to heavy rainfall on Friday. No untoward incident was reported due to the downpour.

Farmers expressed happiness over the rains as it was good for the crops, mainly cotton. Bogatha waterfall in Wazeedu mandal was receiving good inflows due to the rains. But, works in the open cast mines (OCP) of Bhupalpally were hit, causing a loss of nearly Rs 1 crore to Singareni Collieries Company Limited (SCCL).

Several irrigation projects received good inflows in erstwhile Khammam district. Many places in Sathupalli, Nelakondapalle, Wyra, Thallada, Vemsoor, Kalluru, Chintakani, Penuballi, Bonakal, Konijerla Kamepalli received rainfall ranging around 1 cm to 4 cm since Thursday night. The erstwhile district had just 14 rainy days from July 1 and there was deficit rainfall in June and July. Hyderabad and its surrounding areas in erstwhile Ranga Reddy district too witnessed incessant rains with brief intervals over the past 24 hours.

The Meteorological department predicted heavy rains at isolated places across the State for another 48 hours. Light to moderate rain or thundershowers were very likely at most places in Telangana over the next five days. With 33 per cent less rainfall than the normal average, the State is expected to overcome the deficit in the next five days.

“South West monsoon has been active over Telangana for the past few days. Rains are expected under the influence of a trough from upper air cyclonic circulation lying over South Coastal Andhra Pradesh and its neighbourhood. A low pressure area is likely to be formed over the coastal area of West Bengal, the State may witness rainfall in isolated places across all the districts,” an IMD official said.