November 05
Lone Nawaz
Snowfall that started from Thursday night in upper reaches of Tral has come not just too early in the season but also as a blight on the valley’s apple orchards. Reports from Higher reaches of Tral including Aripal, Dar Ganie Gund, Sofigund, Khanagund and their adjacent villages reached that snow fall has caused extensive damage to apple trees due to the heavy snow that accumulated on leaves and branches.
Residents of many villages told The Kashmiriyat over phone that the snowfall damaged hundreds of apples that were still on trees, while branches of trees broke down due to the weight of the snow. They said the government should compensate apple growers for their loss.
Meanwhile the villagers from Diver, Batgund, Nader , Deodarpora, Guttangoo, Yangavani and Khasipora said that 60 percent of their harvested crop had been left stranded in orchards, lying on the ground in snow. They said the snow may damage the fruit.
Reports of damage to apple orchards came from areas such as syedabad pastuna,Gulshanpora ,Wagad and Laribal ,jawahar pora lam areas of Tral sub-dustrict of pulwama district, Orchardists in these areas said that branches have fallen from trees due to the snow and both fruits and trees have suffered damage. , Said residents of Dar Ganie Gund, they said that branches of hundreds of trees were damaged in their village.
Bilal Ahmad lone, a resident of Dar Ganie Gund area of Aripal Tral while speaking to The Kashmiriyat said that he was apprehensive about his apple trees. “If the snowfall continues, the trees may sustain damage, as the snow accumulates on leaves and puts added weight on the branches.”
“We have suffered huge losses. In upper reaches of Tral sub- district, people are mostly dependent on apple orchards. This year due to hailstorms and unexpected snowfall a few times, we have suffered a lot of loss,” said residents of Jawaharpora Laam.
Apple growers demanded from the government compensation and measures to protect the orchards.