Widespread rainfall in Punjab, Haryana may damage paddy crop

Widespread rainfall across Punjab, Haryana and Chandigarh on Saturday brought miseries to farmers as untimely showers have affected the standing paddy crop in the agrarian states.

The maximum temperature at most places has been below normal due to the downpour, weather officials said here.

Farmers in both Punjab and Haryana said the rain during this period was not good as the harvesting of the paddy crop was on.

"The harvesting is on and the rain will increase the moisture content in the crop that will get damaged if the rain persists," farmer Ajaib Singh of Fatehgarh Sahib told IANS.

Reports said that the paddy crop, which is almost ready for harvest, was damaged in some areas.

Procurement of paddy in Punjab and Haryana is scheduled to begin from October 1.

Officials from Agriculture and Food and Supplies Departments are expecting a bumper paddy crop in both the states this year.

An official spokesperson said elaborate arrangements have been made to procure the expected 200 lakh metric tonnes of paddy in Punjab.

In Chandigarh, traffic was affected as water accumulated at many places in the city. Complaints of water-logging were also received by authorities in the adjoining towns of Panchkula in Haryana and Mohali in Punjab.

Traffic on highways in Punjab and Haryana was slow due to the rain.

The Punjab government on Friday issued an alert for heavy rains across the state till September 24.

As per information received from the Ministry of Earth Sciences, the state is likely to experience widespread rainfall from late Saturday to Monday, a government spokesman told IANS.

He said many districts in Doaba, Majha and Malwa were very likely to get very heavy rains, even more than 12 cm, during this period.

--IANS

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