Nasir Khuehami
Srinagar, Jun 24 (KNS): The residents of Watapora area of North Kashmir’s Bandipora district are up in arms against district administration for failing to respond to their problems properly after hailstorm and heavy rainfall hit the crops in the area. Pertinently Heavy rains and hailstorm from past many days caused huge damage to crops and various kinds of Vegetables in Watapora and its adjoining areas and leaving farmers in distress over expected losses.

Locals from Watapora, Qazipora, and its adjoining areas told Kashmir News Service (KNS) that heavy rains, wind and hailstorm, from past many days damaged crops and various kinds of fruits and vegetables. They said that the windy storms triggered by heavy rainfall have lead to massive damage of crops, on which farmers depend for their livelihood.

Located about 2.5 kilometers from Bandipora town, Watapora is known for its production of quality vegetables, but the excessive rainfall from last several days have ruined the potential crop of grapes. Farmers of these areas have expressed disappointment and said they have been incurring heavy losses due to incessant rains which have damaged their standing crops and vegetables. Meanwhile, Locals told KNS that District Administration has totally failed to reach out to the affected people, not to talk of giving them the adequate compensation.

According to the reports the heavy rains have caused huge damage to the fruits and other vegetables in Watapora. However no one has came with the help or to report the loss, neither by the Revenue nor the Agriculture department leaving the Vegetable growers to fend for themselves.

One of the prominent vegetable grower Ghulam Mohiuddin Bhat from Watapora village said that he has suffered at least 80 to 90 percent damage due to heavy hailstorm and rains. He said that this year we had expected a good crop, but the hailstorms have not only dashed our hopes, but also left the us in desperation.

He said that our entire crops, Vegetables were damaged. “What will we do now. We are facing much difficulty. We are poor people, we only survive on our crops. Now it’s all gone,” he told KNS. He said that Government should come and look into this and provide us help. He said the yield from his agriculture land earned over Lacs every year, but this year due to heavy rains destroyed whole crops worth lacs. He said we are demanding compensation from the government for the loss of their crops due to heavy rains in the area. (KNS)