SWABI: Hailstorm coupled with torrential rain destroyed standing crops over a vast area here on Saturday night and early Sunday.

The farmers said that the hailstorm occurred twice for 40 minutes and 30 minutes within eight hours time, severely damaging maize, sugarcane and rice crops besides vegetables.

“Our maize crop, which was expected to be harvested after a week, had been destroyed by hailstones,” said Rukhsar Ali of Pirtab village.

The growers told this correspondent that the hailstones lashed the area and its impact was so severe that virtually nothing was left of the crops.

The affected areas included Maneri Payan, Maneri Bala, Shahmansoor, Proper Swabi, Gohati, Pirtab, Adina, Ismalia, Saleem Khan, Yar Hussain, Dagai, Baja Bamkhel, Zarobai, Kalabat, Zaida, Kinda, Sheikh Dheri, Beka, Kata, Chota Lahor, Charbagh, Sheikh Jana and other areas.

Tobacco Growers Association Pakistan’s central president Liaquat Yousafzai said that the district should be declared as calamity hit and the provisional government should depute a team to assess the damage caused by the hailstorm and extend financial support to the growers.

The torrential rain and hailstorm also uprooted many trees some of which fell on the electricity transmission lines causing suspension of power supply to several areas for over 20hours.

A Pesco official said that the company’s staffers worked for the whole day to restore power supply to the consumers. However, the rain turned the weather pleasant in the district.

Published in Dawn, October 3rd, 2022