Karnataka   

Eight killed in heavy rain across Karnataka

BANGALORE: Several parts of Karnataka have been receiving unseasonable rain damaging a variety of summer crops and forcing people to remain indoors in urban areas.

Though the rain that has been occurring in the southern and coastal parts of the State intermittently for the past week has brought down the rising mercury levels, the unexpected downpour has caused anxiety among farmers over crop damage. In the last couple of days, heavy rain has claimed the lives of four people in Raichur district and four in Gulbarga. Several houses have been damaged in these districts.

Rain also affected electricity supply in some towns, as electric poles were uprooted due to strong winds. According to officials in the Revenue Department, the rain has eased the drinking water crisis in several villages. The drinking water situation is expected to improve as storages levels have gone up in the main reservoirs.

The unseasonable rain that lashed the coastal areas of the State has hit the fishermen badly. Stormy conditions at sea prevented them from venturing into the sea.

Only 20 per cent of fishing boats left the various fishing harbours, according to official sources.

Worst affected by the rain are the coffee and summer crops in several parts of Kodagu, Hassan, Chikmagalur, Gulbarga, and Mysore. The rain in Mysore district has caused damage to mango orchards and has brought down the yield. In Gulbarga district, the standing paddy crop in Shahpur, Surpur, Jewargi and Yadgir and chilli crop in the irrigated belt of Shahapur, Surpur, Jewargi and Yadgir has been damaged.

Coffee growers are particularly worried as coffee picking is still going on in many medium and large plantations in Kodagu, Hassan and Chikmagalur districts. Owing to untimely rain, the picking has stopped.

Shedding of coffee from plants could bring losses to the growers in the days to come. The price of Robusta, which looked good, even reaching up to Rs. 2,500 for a 50 kg bag, has now fallen to below Rs. 2,000. Coffee drying has not been possible in the yards.

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