Latur, Oct 29 (PTI) Even as the monsoon has withdrawn from the state, unseasonal heavy rains battered Renapur tehsil of central Maharashtra's Latur district on Tuesday night, damaging both kharif and newly-sown
rabi crops.
Heaps of harvested soybean were swept away in villages along the Rena river, including Renapur, Ghansargaon, Murdhav, Bhandarwadi, Kamkheda and Chukarwadi, local sources said.
Farm equipment, irrigation pipes and sack bags were also carried off by the floodwaters, they added.
Suresh Chavan, a farmer from Garsuli village in Rebapur tehsil, said he lost the entire heap of harvested soybean on his five-acre farm.
"The government announced aid, but we never received it. Our Diwali passed in darkness, and now our fields have been washed away," he said in a video that went viral.
After the floods in September destroyed their kharif crops, farmers had repaired their land and sown rabi crops, only to see a fresh spell of rain washing them away.
Many farmers had paid labourers Rs 5,500 to Rs 6,000 per acre for soybean harvest, sources said.
The downpour also disrupted transportation. Roads from Kharola to Ashtamod, Pangav to Renapur, and Ghansargav to Hanmantwadi remained closed till afternoon. The bridge over the stream near Ghansargav was reported to be in a dangerous condition, requiring immediate repairs.
Water was released from the Renapur irrigation project into the Rena River early Wednesday morning to manage rising inflows, officials said. PTI COR KRK
