Fresh snowfall in JK's Bhadarwah hills

The picturesque hills in Bhaderwah valley of Doda district today received another spell of snowfall leading to a sharp dip in temperature.
However, the snowfall will hit paddy growers of the area.
There was heavy rainfall, coupled with strong winds and hailstorm, in Bhadarwah valley. The unseasonal snowfall led to a sudden drop of temperature and has also worried the farmers especially paddy growers.
The snowfall was witnessed in Kailash mountain range leading to a sudden drop in temperature and forcing people to wear warm clothes and lit fire to protect themselves from chilly weather, Met officials said.
The upper reaches of Bhadarwah had experienced season's first snowfall on October 5, resulting in early frost which is considered unproductive for standing paddy.

"Our paddy crop is still in the fields and the hailstorm and strong winds today spoiled fifty per cent of our standing paddy crop," Bashir Malik, a resident of Sarna village, said.

He said that the harvesting of China paddy will start in a couple of days but heavy rain and hailstorm destroyed hope of good yield as their is hardly any grain left on the paddy shells.
"We produce high quality and famous Daggu rice and entire Killar Valley is dependent on this crop. Paddy is still immature and will take at least another 10 days of dry and warm weather to start ripening but the early snowfall which has resulted in sudden drop in temperature will badly hit the quality of the rice," said a farmer and sarpanch of Duggli village in Killar belt of Bhaderwah.

When asked about the fears of the farmers, Chief Agriculture Officer Doda H K Razdan said, "Hailstorm will have a very bad effect on China rice as it was almost ripe and ready to be harvested.
"Sudden drop in temperature can trigger frost and affect the yield and quality of the paddy crop which is still immature.