isnetpress

In occupied Kashmir, heavy rains, resulting in flash floods have, besides submerging vast areas, damaged full grown Kashmiri apples.

The rains and flooding have come as a curse for apple orchard owners in the Valley. Most families in Sopore in north Kashmir and Shopian in the south earn their livelihoods from apple produce but this time, floods have uprooted their only source of living.

The 72-hour heavy downpour over the weekend dealt a virtual blow to their produce. Apples laden on tree branches were scattered on the ground in the wake of the rains.

Abdul Ahad, a fruit grower in Shopian, lost his crop to nature's fury. "The rainfall cost me around Rs500, 000," he lamented. Apple orchards cover around 72 percent of the Valley, producing 1.1 million tonnes of apples annually. Nearly 2.5 million people are directly or indirectly associated with this trade.

"With the nature having the last laugh, we are ruined," said Ghulam Rasool Dar, another fruit grower in Sopore.

Publication date:7 Sep., 2006
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