Five Killed, 150 Injured by Windstorm in India held-Kashmir
By Altaf Hamid Rao 'Pakistan Times' Kashmir Bureau Chief

MIRPUR (AJK): As many as five persons were killed and over 150 others injured even as more than 2,000 residential houses and other structures were suffered damage, thousands of trees have been uprooted and damage caused to the fruit crop and houses is measured at Rs 300 cr in the windstorm that has demolished systems and plunged entire Indian occupied Jammu region and Kashmir valley into darkness last night, says a report reaching here Sunday from across the line of control.

Reports pouring in from areas and quarters from across the held valley suggested that last evening's windstorm had caused maximum damage to the fruit cops of apple, cherry, apricot, peach, almond, walnut and grapes as thousands of trees were uprooted and many more bereft of their fruit and foliage.

The report quoted officials at an installation of the Central Meteorology Department in occupied Srinagar as saying that the fast winds had blown with a speed of 90 Km/hour in North-South direction from Azad Jammu Kashmir. They attributed the natural calamity to the abnormal rise in temperature in addition to influences of global warming and Western disturbance, the report said.

According to these reports, fruit and trees laden with green fruit besides cherry, which is in the last stage of ripping, had suffered damage worth more than Rs 250 cr. Damage suffered by residential and other structures is measured at more than Rs 50 cr in addition to Rs 5-10 cr damage suffered by the held state Power Developmental Department which had most of the transmission lines, besides a large number of towers and poles, badly damaged. Even as official estimations are still in progress, at least 3 persons have died and over 100 are believed injured across the Valley.

Quoting official sources in occupied Srinagar, the report revealed that three persons were killed and 34 others had reported at various hospitals with injuries and fractures. It said that 44 residential houses had suffered extensive damage while 955 houses had been partially damaged. Independent sources, however, insist that the number of the injured as well as the number of the houses and structures damaged was more than double the official figures at this stage.

Those killed in the catastrophe have been identified as Abdul Rahim Nadroo S/o Abdul Khaliq R/o Yunisoo, Handwara, Ghulam Hassan Wani S/o Abdul Rahim Wani R/o Bahnipora, Handwara, and Taj-ud-din Ansari S/o Maqbool Ansari R/o Jharkhand. While Nadroo and Wani died when they came under the falling trees, Ansari, who was a labourer from Jharkhand, got killed when a structure collapsed over him in Uri, the report added.

Unconfirmed reports from north occupied Kashmir said that two fishermen, namely Mohammad Ashraf Dar and Abdul Aziz Rishi, residents of Bangladesh Zirmanz locality of Sopore, were missing in Wullar Lake.

Power consumers from most of the areas in occupied state, excluding in certain localities in the Capital city of Srinagar, claimed that almost entire Valley was continuously plunged in darkness.

Reports indicated said that the nearly ripe crops of cherry had been badly damaged in Nishat-Harwan and Ganderbal-Lar belt. Apple crop, still in early stage, has suffered extensive damage in Handwara-Pattan in north Kashmir and Pulwama-Kulgam belt in south Kashmir. Walnut and almond crop has been badly damaged in Budgam and Pulwama districts. Over 50 vehicles, both in movement and parked, were also estimated to have been damaged due to falling of trees and branches and collisions.

Officials said that at least six boats had capsized in Dal and Nageen lakes but all the people in them were successfully evacuated. Though the number of the residential structures collapsed under the impact of the wind was not alarming, reports said that CGI roofing’s of hundreds of houses had been blown up in the windstorm.

Cable networks were also disrupted and services stopped for a night and a day as down linking systems and carriers were badly damaged, the report added.●