Scores of residential and non- residential structures, orchards and fruit crop suffered extensive damage
SNS KASHMIR
Reyaz Rashid
Baramulla:High intensity stormy winds blew away rooftops scores residential and non-residential buildings and uprooted dozens of trees that damaged houses and electricity lines besides fruit orchards suffered extensive damage in parts of north Kashmir’s Baramulla Bandipora , Kupwara districts and Budgam district of central Kashmir on Monday.
High intensity stormy winds swept Sopore, Pattan and other adjoining areas of in north Baramulla district in the afternoon in which several residential houses, shops were damaged after windstorm blew away their rooftops and besides traffic on Srinagar-Baramulla highway was disrupted after huge poplar trees uprooted by winds damaged two cars bearing registration numbers JK04E 5070-Swift) and JK014 7635-Alto) after the trees fell on them.
“ Five houses and three shopping complexes suffered damage due to the winds in Sopore. Pattan and Sumbal, Rafiabad areas also got affected with several rooftops of houses got damaged and fruit crop suffered huge damage,” locals told Kashmir Images.
“Dozens of poplar, Chinar, apple, walnut and other trees were uprooted and fruits particularly walnut suffered massive damage. Poplar trees uprooted on Srinagar- Muzzafarabad highway blocked traffic at Pattan, Sangrama and several places i which later was resorted,” eyewitness Fayaz Ahmed said.
“It was like cyclone stormy winds which wreaked havoc in Sopore. It was like doomsday and everything was in chaos as cries echoed Sopore market,” said a fruit vendor whose fruit cart suffered damage.
In Watapora area of Bandipora, the gusty winds damaged rooftop of a residential house
“All of us were horrified. It looked as if the world would end. Literally everything shook around. Children got frightened in my school,” a government teacher Mushtaq Ahmed Wani Bandripora.
Following the windstorm, power supply in parts of Baramulla, Bandipora, Kupwara and Sopore has also been snapped due to the breaking of poles and cables.However, no casualty was reported in the incident, said a police official.
In Kupwara district, wind storm caused massive damage to crops and dozens of trees got uprooted including a Chinar tree in Sogam and Lolab. “Scores of trees were uprooted with apple and walnut crop suffered large scale damage in the district.
In Bandipora, winds storm inflected damage to fruit crops in the district besides several residential and non-residential structure got damaged in the storm. The wind storm, which continued for over half-an-hour, also plunged several areas north Kashmir into darkness as authorities snapped electricity supply in a precautionary measure.
The electricity supply was being restored in the evening after the field staff of the Power Development Department (PDD) swung into action for repairing and restoration of the damaged lines.
In central Kashmir’s Budgam district gusty winds accompanied by isolated showers and hailstorm this late-afternoon caused damage to orchards, residential houses, vVehicles and uprooted trees in various parts of the district.
“Although no causalities has been reported, the authorities are still collecting the details from various places, “the official said.