Affected fruit growers left in the lurch, alleges PDP

Srinagar, Nov 14: Alleging that the administration was doing mere photo-shoots, senior Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Mansoor Hussain Sohrawardhy said the affected fruit growers in the Kashmir valley are left in the lurch.

Mr Sohrawardhy on Wednesday questioned the Governor administration over its alleged non- serious approach in mitigating the fruit growers who have incurred massive losses due to the recent snowfall in Kashmir.

In a statement issued here this afternoon, he said that the tall claims of the state administration have fallen flat as there are thousands of areas wherein snowfall wrecked havoc and damaged orchards but to everyone’s surprise not even a single government official has paid any visit there.

The PDP leader accused the Governor administration of doing mere photo shoots in selected pockets of Kashmir while as the areas wherein losses are huge and unthinkable have been left in the lurch.

“Leave aside the Advisors to the Governor, even not a single official from the department of Horticulture has visited South Kashmir’s Shangus area where the fruit growers have incurred massive losses to their crops,” Mansoor said.

Right from Gopalpora to Deethu Brah, the orchards are spread over to the 22 Km long stretch and the recent unseasonal snowfall has damaged the orchards at a large scale there.

However, according to Mr Sohrawardhy, no official has visited the affected populace and made assessment of the losses incurred by the fruit growers there. “How could the government compensate the orchardists when it doesn’t know the actual amount of losses on ground and when it hasn’t reached to the areas wherein the damages are high. It is ironical to find that the Governor administration is busy in photo shoots and beating the trumpet of loss mitigation. The situation on ground is belying all such claims,” Mr Sohrawardhy said.

He appealed to administration to reach out to the areas which have been worst affected and make the actual assessment of losses on ground. “Otherwise, it would be a mockery in the name of compensation as a fruit grower who has suffered the loss of 20 lakh is given a mere 10 thousand rupees as a relief. This will not be allowed to happen and it is high time for the state dispensation to understand the gravity of the crises and address it on merit and priority,” said the PDP leader.