Severe Hailstorm Damages Crops, Orchards in Bandipora

Suhail Khan

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Bandipora, Oct 08: A severe hailstorm pounded several parts of Kashmir on Thursday evening, with Bandipora district bearing the brunt of the weather event that damaged standing crops and orchards and disrupted traffic and normal life for a while, officials and residents said.

 

The hailstorm struck amid changing weather conditions, with residents describing its intensity as unusually severe.

“It was terrible. The hailstones came down heavily and within minutes the ground was covered with hail,” said Naveed Ahmad, a local resident.

Several areas of Bandipora witnessed heavy hail accompanied by gusty winds, triggering concern among farmers, particularly those dependent on standing crops and fruit orchards, residents said. Traffic movement was also affected during the hailstorm, they added.

Heavy hail and strong winds were also reported from parts of Ganderbal, Baramulla and Kupwara districts. In Kupwara, severe hail and heavy rain are reported to have affected paddy fields and apple orchards, while crop damage was also reported from some areas of Ganderbal.

Rainfall was reported from several other parts of Jammu and Kashmir, while cloudy conditions prevailed over most areas.

The overall extent of damage to crops and orchards in Bandipora, Kupwara and Ganderbal has not yet been officially assessed, and no district-wise loss estimates were immediately available.

Jammu and Kashmir is likely to witness light rain at scattered places over the next two days, with light snowfall possible over the higher reaches, the Meteorological Centre here said on Thursday.

The weather is expected to remain partly to generally cloudy on October 9 and 10, with generally dry conditions likely on October 11 and 12. A brief spell of light rain is possible at a few places towards the evening of October 9, while another spell may occur towards the evening or night of October 13, the weather office said.

Generally cloudy weather with light rain, light snowfall over the higher reaches, thunderstorms and gusty winds is expected at many places on October 14 and 15. The weather is likely to remain generally dry from October 16 to 18, according to the forecast.

The Meteorological Centre has advised farmers to continue harvesting and ensure the safe storage of harvested apples and paddy.

Srinagar recorded a maximum temperature of 28.2 degrees Celsius, four degrees above normal, while the minimum settled at 10.9 degrees Celsius, 3.4 degrees above normal.

Jammu recorded a maximum of 31.5 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 20 degrees Celsius, while Pahalgam recorded a maximum of 23.6 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 6 degrees Celsius. Gulmarg recorded a maximum of 19 degrees Celsius and a minimum of 6 degrees Celsius, the data showed.

Notably, Minister for Agriculture Production, Rural Development & Panchayati Raj, Javid Ahmad Dar last month said that the Government of Jammu & Kashmir is fully committed to implementation of the Weather Based Crop Insurance Scheme (WBCIS) to bring apple under insurance cover.

Speaking in the Legislative Assembly, the Minister said that all codal formalities were completed for roll-out of the scheme.

He, however, added that as per communication from the Government of India regarding revision of WBCIS norms for States and UTs, the scheme has been put on hold.

“An Advisory Committee was constituted by the Ministry of Agriculture & Farmers Welfare, Government of India for this purpose. As far as our information goes, the Committee has submitted its report. We are now awaiting final communication and further directions from the Government of India,” the Minister added.