Thunderstorm, accompanied with gusty winds up to 40 to 50 km per hour, and lightning is very likely to occur at isolated places in several district of Telangana till April 21, the met office said. The Indian Meteorological Department on Thursday issued thunderstorm warning to both Telangana and Andhra Pradesh for the next four days.
A similar warning was issued to neighbouring Andhra Pradesh. Unseasonal rains lashed parts of Telangana on Wednesday and Thursday, uprooting trees and damaging crops and electricity lines. The mango crop was damaged to gusty winds.
The farmers suffered huge losses as the paddy they stored in various market yards for sale got soaked due to unseasonal rains. They alleged that the officials failed to take necessary measures to protect their produce.
Meanwhile, the Telangana Civil Supplies Department assured the farmers that their damage paddy will be purchased. Civil Supplies Commissioner Akun Sabharwal on Thursday visited Medak and Suryapet districts and inspected paddy procurement centres.
He asked officials to keep sufficient tarpaulin sheets at paddy procurement centres and shift paddy to rice mills immediately after purchase.
Meanwhile, Mahabubnagar and Khammam were the hottest places in Telangana with the maximum temperature of 41.4 degrees Celsius.
In Andhra Pradesh, the temple town of Tirupati was the hottest place with maximum temperature of 43 degrees Celsius. Other places in Rayalaseema region recorded high temperature. The mercury in Kadapa touched 42 while Nandyal, Kurnool, Anantapur also recorded maximum temperature of 41 degrees Celsius.
Earlier this week, the state government’s Real Time Governance System (RTGS) forecasted mercury rising to above 45 degrees Celsius in seven districts of Andhra Pradesh. RTGS classifies 45 degrees Celsius and above as ‘danger’, warning that heat strokes are very likely.
RTGS classifies temperatures above 50 degrees Celsius as extreme danger. The heat index summary by RTGS is based on Indian Space Research Organisation’s forecast and National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) Heat Index Guidelines. #KhabarLive