Cloudburst-like rain batters Jayakwadi; crops, houses damaged

Chhatrapati Sambhajinagar

Torrential rain, resembling a cloudburst, hammered several villages in Jayakwadi on Saturday evening and continued for nearly eleven hours until Sunday morning with thunder and lightning. The downpour flooded rivers, streams, and canals, cutting off road links to many villages.

Heavy rain lashed Vahegaon, Katpur, Mudhalwadi, Pimpalwadi Pirachi, Takli Paithan, Dhangaon, Isarwadi, Karkin, Borgaon, Pachalgaon, and Varudi. Fields of cotton, tur, soybean, maize, green gram, and sugarcane went under water. Farmers like Yagnesh Katbane of Dhangaon reported that soybean, green gram, and black gram crops were destroyed. Livestock also suffered due to waterlogging. Farmers demanded immediate surveys and blanket compensation for the damage. On Sunday morning, revenue officials inspected the affected areas. They found mosambi and cotton crops damaged in Katpur and Mudhalwadi, while onion fields were washed away. Rainwater entered homes in some villages, adding to villagers’ losses. Paithan tehsildar Jyoti Pawar visited the scene, while circle officer Kalpana Pokle and talathi Sonawane recorded panchnamas of three collapsed houses in Pimpalwadi Pirachi. In Jayakwadi, four to five feet of water filled the basement of businessman Kausar Shaikh’s shop, ruining goods.