Shopian Nov 06: The orchard owners who incurred huge losses due to snowfall recently are buying iron bolts to repair the broken trees, they say, will help in rejuvenating the tree.
Several areas of Kandi belt in south kashmir’s Shopian district where apple picking was yet to complete and fruit laden trees crumbled under the snowfall.
“These days people are using Iron bolts and Nails to fix the branches and were tying ropes into stems and some trying to give wooden support to the uprooted trees,” a farmer said.
According to locals there is a huge rush in hardware shops of south Kashmir’s Shopian district since couple of day snow.
“From past couple of days there is huge rush in my shop after snowfall damaged trees here and so far I have sold quintals of bolts and nails but there is more demand to them,” Nisar Ahmad a hardware sellers in a village of Pulwama said.
In Shopian a hardware shop owner told INS, that he had to increase manpower at his store due to massive throng of farmers repairing there damaged trees by iron bolts.
Ali Mohd a shopkeeper in Shopian village who sells ropes claimed that so far he has sold almost.
“I had to increase the supply order to my Srinagar based supplier,” he said.
The most affected areas according assesment by Horticulture deparment is Sedow,Herpora keller ,pinjura and imam saheb areas of Shopian.
Rajpora belt including kangan tahab,puchal and payer of pulwama district too have been massively hit by snowfall.
Hilal ahmad an apple grower from Herpora Shopian said that they have lost almost all trees in a two decades old orchard.
“Almost all the trees on my 4 kanals orchard are damaged, we request government to compensate our loss,” Hilal urged.
Apple growing is the backbone of economy in Shopian, Pulwama with majority of people attacked to the fruit farming.
Fruit growers said that many of them have availed KCC loans and the damages have hit them badly as they wont be able to pay them.
Chief horticulture officer Mr Rajesh kotwal pulwama told INS , After proper assessment and survey the compensation will be provided to the effected growers.
