Gusty winds damage two high-density apple orchards in Pulwama

Pulwama, May 19: Strong gusty winds that swept through parts of Pulwama during the intervening night of May 17 and 18, 2025, have caused extensive damage to several fruit-laden apple trees across the district.
According to a preliminary damage assessment by the Office of the Chief Horticulture Officer (CHO) Pulwama, around 16 orchards spread over approximately 83.75 kanals of land have been affected.
Two high-density apple orchards—one in Tumchi Nowpora and the other in Bangund—suffered particularly severe damage.
Orchards in Newa, Ugergund, Karimabad, Parigam, Panjran, Sanzen, and Achan reported minor losses.
Mohammad Yaseen Shah, an orchardist from Hunipora Chitti Nehama, said his high-density apple orchard, established in 2001 on six kanals of land in Tumchi Nowpora, was nearly destroyed.
“About 95 percent of my orchard is damaged,” Shah said, adding that the orchard had 1,000 apple trees.” Shah said, “Out of 120 poles, around 100 snapped into two or three pieces during the storm.”
Shah claimed he had previously reported the issue to the horticulture department but received no response. “I had written to the CHO Pulwama about the company’s malpractice, but nothing was done. Today again, I urged the department to take action, but they just told me the company has shut down,” he said, demanding accountability from the authorities.
Bashir Ahmad, another orchardist from Hunipora, reported similar losses. His 7.15-kanal high-density orchard, developed just last year by a different private firm, sustained nearly 80 percent damage.
“The orchard was thriving, and we were expecting a good harvest this year,” he said, “But the storm has dashed all our hopes.”
According to Bashir, around 450 apple trees were damaged.
He, too, blamed faulty infrastructure, stating that approximately 60 cement poles broke under the pressure of the winds.
He echoed Shah’s demand for the horticulture department to act against the company responsible for the poor-quality materials.
“All the cement poles with anti-hail nets installed snapped,” said Masood Ahmad, HDO Kakapora, while speaking to Rising Kashmir, “However, the cement poles without the load of anti-hail nets were least affected.”
He added that the region experienced wind speeds of unprecedented intensity for the first time .
“A concrete cement pole weighs around 90 kilograms, but even that can break if it becomes imbalanced,” he explained.