Over the last 24 hours, early snowfall in the valley has wreaked havoc that has caused damage to apple crops and orchards.
A few inches of snow has caught the administration off-guard and caused massive damage to the horticulture sector in the valley. Apple crop worth crores has been damaged due to early snowfall.
The horticulture sector that took the biggest hit as Maharaja, the last apple variety of the season, was lying in the orchards for packaging and was destroyed due to the snowfall.
A video on social media is going viral where you can see a farmer crying his heart out as snowfall ahead of pruning and leaf fall had caused huge damages in orchards.
Sir plz see this heart wrenching video, massive damage due to snow in south #Kashmir pic.twitter.com/DufDmZgm8S
— Umar Ganie (@UmarGanie1) November 4, 2018
"The upper reaches of fruit belts, particularly Shopian, Kulgam and Pulwama, are yet to harvest the apples. The harvested fruits are lying in the orchards which are bound to get damaged. A rough estimate of the loss stands at more than Rs 1000 crore," said Ghulam Nabi Malik, General Secretary J&K Kisan Tehreek.
Former chief minister Omar Abdullah also urged the governor to depute revenue teams to the affected districts and assess the losses so that they are compensated forthwith said.
"The government should offer succor to the farmers and orchardists as they form the backbone of the state's economy and have always been suffering on account of weather vagaries," he said.
This man’s spirits are completely crushed. His apple crop awaiting packing is buried under the snow & all his efforts over the summer, his investment in tree oil & other treatments has been for nothing. It’s no wonder he’s weeping the way he is. #tragic https://t.co/kUPAbl2xGa
— Omar Abdullah (@OmarAbdullah) November 4, 2018
People on Twitter showed grief over his loss.
Very painful to see and hear... Just want to ask, if the PM Crop insurance scheme is applicable in JnK? I knw it won't do him any good this time, lekin aage se aisa nuksaan hone se bach sakte hai. Pls provide him all support. @OmarAbdullah can't you do something fr him?
— Pratyush Mishra (@mishrpratyush) November 4, 2018
There could be many others suffering this kind of loss. To avoid this kind of calamity in future following needs to be done: 1. Better Weather Forecasting for farmers 2. Vacuum Cleaner style blowers to remove snow when it still soft 3. Build Storage Facility 4. Crop Insurance
— Suresh (@SureshS89174171) November 4, 2018
Heartbreaking
— SHAH ZAFFAR HUSEIN (@HuseinZaffar) November 4, 2018
This kind of scene is so heartbreaking. Happens to farmers all the time during untimely rains & snow
— Sylvia Francis (@sylviafrancis20) November 4, 2018
Extremely heart-breaking
— Thus Spake Ram (@ramurao) November 4, 2018