The State of Telangana has formally requested ₹117.76 crore in immediate financial assistance from the Central Government, to be drawn from the National Disaster Response Fund (NDRF). This sum is intended to provide input subsidies directly to farmers whose livelihoods were devastated by Cyclone Montha.
The state's final assessment indicates that standing crops across approximately 1.18 lakh acres in 27 districts were destroyed, affecting a total of 1,22,242 farmers. The most significantly damaged crops include, paddy, cotton and maize.
The state government claims to have completed 100 per cent enumeration of the crop losses and uploaded the final data onto the Central portal.
The districts reporting the highest area of crop destruction are Nagarkurnool (23,580 acres), Warangal (19,736 acres), and Karimnagar (11,473 acres). Khammam district suffered the most extensive damage overall, with 21,408 acres affected, followed by Jagtial (11,557 acres), Karimnagar (11,473 acres), Hanmakonda (11,310 acres), and Nalgonda (9,259 acres).
The Telangana government has, in the meantime, announced an immediate relief package of ₹10,000 per acre funded entirely by the State. This commitment alone is expected to cost the state exchequer approximately ₹117.75 crore.
The State has also requested that an Inter-Ministerial Team from the Centre visit the affected regions to conduct a ground assessment. Furthermore, state officials have pointed out that not a single rupee has been released by the Centre for flood damages incurred in the previous year.
Under standard NDRF norms, Telangana is eligible for the subsidies, which include ₹7,285 for irrigated crops, ₹6,880 for rain-fed crops, perennial crops of ₹9,106 and horticulture crops of ₹3,440.
In a similar vein, the Andhra Pradesh government has revised its estimate of the total loss caused by Cyclone Montha to a substantial ₹6,384 crore. Following a visit by a Central assessment team, the state is now seeking immediate interim relief of ₹901.4 crore.
An eight-member Inter-Ministerial Central Team (IMCT), led by Pasumi Basu, Joint Secretary, Ministry of Home Affairs, and K Ponnuswamy, Director, Ministry of Agriculture and Farmers’ Welfare, was in the state to assess the damage.
The state government's initial preliminary loss estimate stood at ₹5,265 crore. The official release noted: “The total estimated loss stands at ₹6,384 crore, and the state has sought immediate interim assistance of ₹901.4 crore from the Centre.”
In a detailed presentation, officials informed the Central Team that the cyclone's impact was significantly worse than initially anticipated, causing heavy damage across 24 districts in sectors including agriculture, horticulture, fisheries, irrigation, housing, and general infrastructure.
Between October 27 and 29, the state recorded 82.3 mm of rainfall— nine times higher than the seasonal average. The cyclone affected 443 mandals (administrative blocks), resulted in three fatalities, saw 9,960 homes submerged, and led to the displacement of over 1.11 lakh people.
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