Cyclone Montha | Ministers Ponnam, Tummala assure relief to farmers who suffered crop loss

Ministers Ponnam Prabhakar and Tummala Nageswara Rao visited the cyclone-affected areas of Husnabad and Khammam to assess the damage caused by the Montha cyclone on Thursday.

The combined Warangal, Karimnagar, and Khammam districts bore the brunt of the cyclone’s impact. Standing crops in thousands of acres were destroyed, and extensive damage was reported to roads, culverts, and bridges, severely affecting connectivity and transport in several rural areas.

Minister for Transport Ponnam Prabhakar has said unprecedented rains on Wednesday wreaked havoc in Husnabad Assembly Constituency, causing widespread damage to crops and roads, leaving three persons feared dead.

The minister visited the rain-ravaged areas including Chigurumamidi, Indurthi and Saidapur on Thursday to take stock of the situation.

CM aerial survey today

Speaking after visiting the rain-battered market yard in Husnabad, the minister said the Centre should declare the havoc caused by unprecedented rainfall in the State as a natural calamity and extend help to the State government to mitigate the woes of rain-affected people. The scale of rain devastation is widespread, he said, adding that Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy will conduct an aerial survey of the rain/flood-affected areas in Husnabad constituency limits on Friday.

Moved by the plight of Veeravva, who lost her entire paddy stock that got washed away in heavy rain at Husnabad market yard on Wednesday, the minister handed over Rs 10,000 as immediate relief to the distressed farmer. He said the soaked paddy will be purchased and compensation will be provided to the rain-affected farmers.

Around 90 families from the low-lying areas along the banks of the Munneru river in Khammam town were shifted to relief camps after the river reached 25 feet mark, the third flood warning level, at Kalvaoddu in Khammam on Thursday.

The water level in Munneru suddenly rose due to heavy rainfall in the upstream areas of the river in the erstwhile composite Warangal district in the last 24 hours. All the streams in the river’s catchment were in spate following the incessant rains triggered by Cyclone Montha. Floodwaters entered some residential colonies located close to the river’s floodplains on Thursday morning.

Minister for Agriculture Tummala Nageshwara Rao visited the relief camps at Nayabazar school. He said the Munneru river crossed the 25 feet mark earlier in the day following the cyclone-induced heavy downpour in its catchment areas on Wednesday. The water level in the river is gradually receding, he noted, adding that food and drinking water were provided to the flood-affected families in the relief camps.

Crop damages will be enumerated to provide ₹10,000 compensation per acre to the farmers affected by the torrential rains. Efforts are on to procure the soaked paddy, he added.(Eom