Nor’wester rain coupled with high-velocity wind on Monday wreaked havoc on standing crops in districts of Rayagada, Kalahandi and Bhadrak.
In Rayagada district, Kashipur block has been the worst affected. The farmers here cultivated vegetables like corn, tomato, cauliflower, cabbage, coriander etc. on acres of land. The crops were ready to be harvested, but dealing a huge blow to the farmers, the Nor’wester rain damaged the crops on Monday.
The farmers are now under severe mental stress, thinking about how they would repay the loans they had taken from banks, friends and relatives to grow crops.
The picture in Kokasara block in Kalahandi district is no different either. The hailstorm caused extensive damage to the crops here. The worst affected are the onion farmers. With the soil wet, it is feared that onions have started rotting.
The situation in Bhadrak district’s Basudevpur area is enough to bring a lump in your throat.
There are submerged farmlands everywhere. The torrential rains have left the farmers staring at huge losses. While they were struggling with the wilt disease in the crops, the unseasonal rain came as a double whammy.
“We had grown capsicum, lady’s finger, cucumber, brinjal and tomato. For this, loans were taken from two groups. We were expecting a bumper harvest. But the unseasonal rain has put paid to our hopes,” said a woman farmer of Basudevpur.
Echoing the same, a farmer of Kashipur said, “Besides borrowing money, we had toiled hard to grow vegetables. We were expecting a bumper harvest. But our hopes have been dashed to the ground.”
At the same time, heavy rain also pounded Bhubaneswar. The capital city witnessed heavy spells of rainfall accompanied by hailstorms.
Briefing about the rainfall, weather scientist, Sanjeev Dwivedi said, “Sundargarh’s Mandiradam recorded the highest rainfall of 129.0mm while Jamda in Mayurbhanj received the lowest rainfall of 28.0mm.”