Overview
- A late-April blaze in Thallapoosapalli, Mahabubabad, burned about 15 acres of ready-to-harvest maize and hit five to six farmers.
- Fire crews could not reach the forest-fringe plots, and the farms had no daytime power for pumps because supply runs from 4 a.m. to 11 a.m.
- The cause is contested, with farmers blaming a short-circuit on overhead lines, the utility rejecting that claim, and the local MLA suggesting arson.
- Officials responded with a police case and an agriculture report that will recommend compensation for the affected farmers.
- Elsewhere in Nirmal and Adilabad, officials counted about 77 farmers and at least 110 acres hit by recent crop fires, with causes ranging from short-circuits to waste burning, careless smoking, or suspected arson.