A few inches of snow has caught the administration off-guard and caused massive damage to the power infrastructure and horticulture sector in the valley.
Over the last 24 hours, early snowfall in the valley has wreaked havoc that has led to electricity outage and caused damage to apple crops and orchards.
A few inches of snow has caught the administration off-guard and caused massive damage to the power infrastructure and horticulture sector in the valley.
On Saturday, power supply was reduced from the required 380 megawatts to a mere 80 mega watts with the administration assuring locals that 90 per cent electricity would be restored by Sunday evening.
Officials said the damage to the electric infrastructure was massive as uprooted trees fell on the wires.
Meanwhile, in a night-long operation, Jammu and Kashmir police also rescued 600 stranded passengers from the snow-hit areas of Jawahar tunnel and Dras. "600 people were evacuated from Banihal area and accommodated at Nowgam and Gund area of Banihal in shelter sheds, religious places and sarais. Over 1,000 civilians were provided food and shelter in Banihal by police and civil administration", said a police spokesman.
It was, however, 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. "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.
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 "Valley snowfall")
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