Unseasonal rainfall, hailstorm lash parts of Marathwada

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar: Unseasonal rainfall accompanied by hailstorm battered several parts of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar, Dharashiv, Latur, Hingoli and Beed districts, along with other areas of Marathwada, on Wednesday night. The weather events are feared to have inflicted damage to kesar and other varieties of mangoes, turmeric cultivation and rabi crops near harvesting.Parts of Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar city also experienced hailstorm, along with light to moderate showers, lightning and thunder around 10.30pm on Wednesday. According to IMD, the city recorded around 8mm of rainfall by Thursday morning. No fresh showers were reported in the region till Thursday evening, though several areas continued to witness partly cloudy skies. Day temperatures remained slightly below normal, offering brief respite from the heat.One of the major weather-related disruptions occurred on the Solapur-Dhule highway, where traffic halted briefly around midnight due to heavy hailstorm and waterlogging on service roads.Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar district disaster management officer Maroti Mhaske said Kannad was among the worst-hit talukas, receiving intense hailstorm on Wednesday night. "There has been no loss of life or property so far due to the unseasonal rain and adverse weather. Local authorities are expected to assess any potential agricultural damage," he said.Dharashiv resident deputy collector Vidyacharna Kadavkar said grape and watermelon plantations, along with other crops, were also affected. "Parts of Dharashiv, Lohara and Tuljapur talukas received severe hailstorms. Instructions have been given to conduct panchanamas to assess crop losses," he said.Farmers' leader Jayaji Suryawanshi said parts of Marathwada reported major unseasonal rainfall multiple times in March so far. "Hailstorms cause irrevocable damage to different aspects of agriculture and horticulture. The repeated extreme weather events have broken the back of farmers," he said.Divisional authorities from the revenue department told TOI that no consolidated data for crop losses and other damage in Marathwada due to unseasonal rain in March was available immediately.As per IMD, Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar and other parts of Marathwada are likely to witness partly cloudy sky with possibility of development of thunder lightning for the next 48 hours.