Hailstorm wreaks havoc in Shopian, Kulgam villages
Growers demand implementation of crop insurance scheme
Srinagar: A severe hailstorm wreaked havoc in several villages of south Kashmir’s Shopian and Kulgam districts on Monday, causing significant damage to orchards, reports said.
According to the locals, the hail storm hit different areas of the both Kulgam and Shopian districts causing damage to the fruit on which thousands of families in the area are dependent.
They said that hail storms hit dozens of villages of Shopian including Rawalpora, Bandipora, Ratnipora, Chakoora, Harmain areas of the Shopian district and many other villages of Kulgam from Behibagh to Nehema hamlet and it continued for around 10 minutes due to which there was significant damage to the fruit.
A grower from Ratnipora said that hailstorm has wreaked havoc just days before harvesting time and it has caused a significant damage to the crop.
He said that the government has been providing miniscule compensation whenever natural calamities hit different areas and damages crops, however, there is a dire need for ensuring implementation of crop insurance scheme.
Growers from different areas of Kulgam and Shopian said that there has been extensive damage in their orchards for the last five consecutive years due to untimely snowfall, hailstorm and other climactic activities.
They said every year they are suffering damages worth lakhs of rupees but getting very little compensation.
They added that there is a need for a crop insurance scheme so that if growers face any damage, they at least get 50 percent of the loses back.
They requested higher ups to look into the matter and take immediate steps in this regard.
Meanwhile, soon after the hailstorm, horticulture department officials visited different villages to assess the damage and guide the growers.
A horticulture officer said that several teams of the department are on the ground to ascertain the damage caused by the untimely hailstorm.
He told farmers to follow instructions of the department in letter and spirit.
He said that the department is hopeful that the crop insurance scheme will be implemented in J&K from March next year.
