Picture Courtesy : Deccan Herald
The unprecedented heavy snowfall in the last few days in Jammu and Kashmir has hit the state hard. According to media reports, the Jammu and Kashmir government assessed Rs 500 crore losses to the state’s agriculture and horticulture sectors and urged the Centre to provide relief to the affected farmers.
Chief Secretary B V R Subrahmanyam urged the central government to depute a team to the state to assess the damages caused by heavy snowfall, an official spokesman said.
In a communication addressed to Union Secretary, Department of Agriculture Cooperation and Farmers Welfare, Subrahmanyam said the extent of damage was so huge that the state government needed assistance from the Centre.
“As per the preliminary assessment done by the state government’s field agencies, nearly 53,000 hectares of horticulture and 9,000 hectares of agriculture crops have been severely damaged and the tentative losses are estimated at over Rs 500 crore,” the chief secretary said.
