A cloudburst struck the forest area of Shukro Keller in south Kashmir’s Shopian district on Thursday, triggering a flood-like situation in the Nallah Bridnaie flowing through Zampathri Keller.
No loss of life or property was reported from the affected area so far.
The cloudburst came a day after heavy rains and gusty winds lashed parts of Shopian on Wednesday, damaging apple orchards and causing losses to growers in several areas.
Farmers said strong winds uprooted several apple-laden trees and knocked fruit off branches, damaging the crop ahead of the harvesting season.
“The winds uprooted apple-laden trees. They also knocked off the fruit from the trees,” said Tariq Ahmad, a farmer from Shopian town.
The weather event followed an earlier spell of heavy winds and hailstorm that had caused extensive damage to apple orchards across more than a dozen villages in the district.
Director Horticulture Kashmir Vikas Anand had told Greater Kashmir that some villages had suffered around 90 per cent damage from the earlier weather event.
Anand, accompanied by Zainapora MLA Showkat Zargar, visited several affected villages on Saturday to take stock of the damage and interact with farmers.
He said horticulture department teams were assessing the losses in the field and a detailed picture would emerge after the assessment was completed.
The successive spells of adverse weather have added to concerns among apple growers in Shopian, one of Kashmir’s major horticulture districts. Farmers said damage to fruit-bearing trees could result in substantial losses at a time when growers have already incurred significant expenditure on orchard management, fertilisers, pesticides and labour.
The latest cloudburst has also renewed concerns over flash floods in vulnerable areas of the district, particularly along nallahs and water channels passing through forest and orchard belts.
Authorities were monitoring the situation and further details on the impact of Thursday’s cloudburst were awaited.
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