Officials neck-deep in damage estimation post-Mandous Premium

TIRUPATI/CHITTOOR/RAYACHOTI

With Cyclone Mandous leaving a trail of devastation, the South Rayalaseema districts’ officials are neck-deep in estimating crop loss in the Tirupati, Chittoor and Annamayya districts.

As per the preliminary estimation, Tirupati district incurred losses of up to ₹226 crore. It has been found that the cyclone severely hit seven towns and 46 villages in the district. Crop loss was reported in 8,215 hectares of farmland. In addition, 545.5 hectares of horticultural crops were also hit by the cyclone.

The officials have found 105 houses damaged and 3,500 submerged due to the cyclone. An estimated 142 km of R&B roads and 147.6 km of Panchayat Raj roads were also reported to be damaged.

Tirupati Collector K. Venkataramana Reddy assured help to the flood victims and gave orders to the officials to take up relief, rehabilitation and sanitary measures on a war footing.

In Annamayya district, Collector P.S. Gireesha has announced that the crop damage estimation would be done in a farmer-friendly manner. He said every cent of the affected farmland would be enumerated in assessing crop loss. In a bid to assuage the feelings of the disillusioned farmers, Mr. Gireesha said the crop loss details would be calculated transparently in consultation with the affected farmers.

Chittoor Collector M. Hari Narayanan inspected the Pedda Rayala Cheruvu in Peddapanjani mandal. The lake, with a holding capacity of 40.15 MCF,T is full to the brim. The Collector instructed the irrigation engineers to strengthen the protection wall to ensure its safety. Joint Collector S. Venkateswar, while inspecting the damaged crops in Vijayapuram, Nindra and Nagari mandals, appealed to the farmers to cooperate with the officials visiting the fields to estimate crop loss.