Paddy crops and fruits in over a dozen villages were damaged by hailstorm and stormy rains in Bandipora district, an official spokesman said today.

Hail storm followed by stormy rains caused large scale damage to standing paddy crops and fruits in over a dozen villages in Bandipora, 55kms from here, last evening, the spokesman said.

He said that deputy commissioner, Bandipora M S Sood today took stock of the damages at a high level meeting of officers and directed them to gear up their field agencies immediately and assess the losses caused to the crops.
    
The DC asked concerned departments to submit the report of damages as soon as possible to enable the government for taking necessary relief measures for effected farmers, the spokesman said.