PARBHANI/BEED, Sept. 30 -- Pale yellow streamers trail from bridge railings, the branches of tall trees, and are strewn across roads everywhere - sugarcane stalks marooned five to six feet above ground. They are chilling reminders of the flood that has devastated Marathwada and large swathes of the state, after relentless rain battered the region for eight straight days. Although the downpour has abated, the threat of more flooding looms as water continues to be released from dams and reservoirs such as Sina Kolegaon, Majalgaon, Jayakwadi and Manjara. At least four districts in Marathwada and a few in Western Maharashtra, particularly Solapur, are crippled. Farmers in Bhum and Paranda in Dharashiv district, Mohol, Madha in Solapur, and Georai, Patoda in Beed districts are in shock. In Vadalbal, Rajur and Shindkhed villages of South Solapur, hundreds of families fled their homes at midnight on last Monday. The evacuation was sudden and swift. Still in a temporary shelter, Khandu Kumbhar, 75, of Undergav in Paranda taluka of Dharashiv district, recalled, "Flood water started pouring into our homes at 1.30 am. We had a choice - pause to take our belongings, cattle and poultry and risk drowning, or flee to save our lives." His son Ganesh is a sculptor, whose tin-shed workshop was washed away in the floods. "More than 100 Durga idols, and replicas of forts and soldiers I had made for Navratri and Diwali were destroyed. I would have earned at least Rs 1.5 lakh from these during the festive season." The devastation is widespread. Standing crops of sugarcane are rotting, fields have been stripped bare, and soybean plants have turned yellow due to waterlogging. The sustained torrential rain in Marathwada has also cast a dark shadow over the future of these villagers. Cleaning the land and rejuvenating the soil to restore its fertility will be a colossal task that will also require large sums of money. "It will be at least three years before things return to normal," said Appasaheb Deshmukh of Kolegaon village in Solapur . Appasaheb Kadam, state deputy president, Shetkari Sanghatana, said that not only the kharif but also the rabi crop has been lost. "This is typically the sowing period for rabi crops like jowar and pulses, but the fields are knee high in sticky mud. Standing crops of soyabean, cotton and sugarcane have flattened." Apart from these crippling losses, farmers will have to spend large sums on hiring labourers to clean up their fields and salvaging whatever escaped the floods. "By the time the harvesting is done, the rabi season will end. The losses are so huge that no compensation will be enough," Kadam said. Around 110 km away, in Depegav in Majalgaon taluka of Beed, Anita Kurale, 40, is in dire straits. Kurale is already in debt after borrowing money to get her daughter married a few months ago. She is also struggling to muster Rs.3 lakh to pay for the professional courses her two other children have enrolled for. "I was expecting at least Rs.2 lakh from 20 quintals of cotton on the two acres I own. But the entire crop has been destroyed due to waterlogging," shrugs Kurale. "This will push me deeper into debt with private lenders as I will need money to sow new crops." The devastation has brought a cruel irony to the people of Marathwada, a traditionally drought-prone region that has experienced unprecedented rain. Eight districts have received 140% of their annual average rainfall, to date. Against an average of 674 mm till September 29, the region recorded 945 mm this year. Beed, Dharashiv, Nanded and Latur are the districts worst affected. They registered between 160% and 132% of their annual average rainfall until Monday. Patoda taluka in Beed district has received 181% of its annual average rainfall, while other talukas like Bhum and Paranda (Dharashiv) received 177% and 170% respectively. Datta Bharne, state agriculture minister said, "The losses sustained by the famers and other citizens are huge, and we are trying to complete surveys at the earliest so that the ex-gratia payment is released soon."...