Rain and hailstorm lash city, farmers rue loss of crop

JAIPUR: The sudden rain and hail storm which lashed the city, caught the residents unawares. But, it was the farmers, who are a worried lot, as the rains and hail storms have reportedly damaged their crops.
In the afternoon, dark clouds started enveloping the city and it started raining soon after. The rain was followed by hail storm, which continued for more than an hour.It turned the weather pleasant but it also lead to traffic congestions at different parts of the city especially on MI Road, Khasa Kothi circle, Raja Park, Bais Godam circle, areas near Sindhi camps, Walled City area, Trimurti circle and at Narayan Singh circle. The vehicles moved at snail's pace as there was waterlogging at various important city roads.
Attributing the sudden change in weather to western disturbances, the Met department officials said that light to moderate rain with thunderstorm occurred at isolated places in Kota and Udaipur divisions.
According to the Met department, Ladpura received 40mm of rain, Talera and Kota airport received 30mm, Pachpahar 20mm and Baran, Anta, Bali and Gangdhar received 10mm rain each.
The framers claimed that the hail and rain have damaged their crops. "We are receiving information about damaged crops from different parts of Jaipur division and also other parts of the state," Rajasthan Kisan union state president Krishan Kumar Saran said.
He said that the farmers incurred losses on ready-to-be-cut crops of barley, gram and mustard. He said that even harvested crops, lying on the fields were also damaged. He demanded that the government should compensate the loss to the farmers.
Besides, the Met department predicted more hailstorm at isolated places in the state. As far as Jaipur is concerned, the Met department predicted that sky would remain partly cloudy with possibility of rain and thunderstorm.
In Jaipur, the maximum temperature was recorded at 31 degrees Celsius. The minimum temperature was recorded three notches up from normal at 19.2 degree Celsius. The coldest place in the state was Sriganganagar, which recorded 10.4 degrees Celsius.