Punjab-Haryana rains worry farmers over wheat crop

Chandigarh, April 8 (IANS) The skies turned dark over parts of Punjab and Haryana on Monday morning with some areas experiencing light rainfall accompanied by strong winds.

Darkness descended over Chandigarh and adjoining towns of Panchkula and Mohali, in Haryana and Punjab, respectively, around 8 a.m. The weather continued like this for nearly two hours.

Light to moderate rain was experienced in several areas of Chandigarh and neighbouring areas.

The sudden change in weather since Sunday night have farmers worried in both agrarian states as the standing wheat crop in the agriculture fields is ready for harvest.

While wheat harvesting have begun in some parts of both, the bulk of the crop will be harvested within April.

"The strong winds and rainfall are not good for the wheat crop as the moisture content will go up and the crop can be flattened by the wind," farmer Balkar Singh of Mohali district said.

However, people said that the weather had turned pleasant and brought relief from the heat wave conditions that started in the region over the past one week.

"The weather has turned very pleasant. This is a big relief from the rising temperatures. People would have enjoyed this change in weather more had it happened yesterday (on Sunday). Today is a working day," university student Amanpreet Kaur said.

The Met department said that the rain and strong winds were due to a western disturbance.

The maximum temperatures across Haryana and Punjab hovered between 34 and 39 degrees on Sunday. The day temperature was likely to drop a little on Monday.