CHOPAL/SHIMLA: The recent heavy rains and flash floods have wreaked havoc on the fruit-bearing apple orchards and links roads  in the apple belt of Shimla district.

Most hit here the gram panchayats  and villages of  Shantha, Kharu, Deot, Matal, Kupvi, Nerwa, Chopal, Khagna, Kiran, Manjhouli, Sarain, Dhabas, Kuhal, Kupvi, Dhamrah, Bhallu, Matana Jhiknipul, Pulbahal and other areas from where more reports are awaited.

The Chopal-Subdivision is not getting the attention it deserves from the Sukhu government just because its MLA , Balbir Verma is not from the Congress, but from its main opposition party, BJP which is an example bad governance! .  

Farmers in these areas are facing a grim future as they grapple with the question of how to make ends meet and how to transport little fruit that survived the flood fury to markets as their link roads have been washed away.  

PWD Chopal has a pet reply:  the link roads are not with PWD and they have little machineries and funds not even enough to clear the PWD roads what to talk about the link roads!  

The floods have not only destroyed  and uprooted their apple trees, which were their primary source of income, but also damaged their lands, the only asset they had to support their families. The land slide has rendered even houses vulnerable in many cases. 

Every government talks about its employees, their pension, OPS, DA, Arrears etc just because it cannot face their powerful and pampered lobbies, but the farmers lack such bargaining power and lobbies to put up their case.      

Adding to their hardships, these farmers were already dealing with a poor crop crisis, and now they face an enormous challenge as their orchards have been lost to landslides and land cracks.

The landslides and torrents not only damaged the apple trees but also washed away and irreparably damaged the little orchard land that the farmers had in many cases.

Despite the government's relief  measures announced recently, the compensation offered to these farmers is meagre and nowhere near enough to cover the expenses they incurred in maintaining their orchards.

The scale of the damage is vast, and each orchard would require substantial funds to remove boulders and restore the land.

Many farmers shared heartbreaking stories of losing their entire orchards, like Surinder Banchta, who lost his 120 apple trees in Nangaal field which sunk and cracked, in Shantha village. They are in dire straits and desperately need suitable compensation.

In areas like Manjhouli and Bhaloo gram panchayats, landslides wreaked havoc on the apple orchards, destroying over 100 fruit-bearing apple plants in one case.

Mangat Ram, Lachhi Ram, Pyare Lal Bhandari, and many others have suffered devastating losses in their apple orchards.

In Matal areas, orchards owned by Govind Singh and others were destroyed by heavy rains and landslides.

In Matal  areas the heavy rains and landslides destroyed orchards owned by Govind Singh s/o let Dhani Ram. Sanjay kumar Village Kuhal Dhabas   narrated  the same story.  So is the case with Jagat Ram s/o Lt.Sh.Kumbia Ram of   Dimo Sarain, Ravinder kumar village kandda, Sarain, Khayali Ram S/o sh.Tulsi Ram vill.Tandai, .kupvi also lost his orchard.

In Kharu village  under Gram Panchayat Deot,  Lokinder Jandev, Prem Jandev lost the apple trees and a house of Prem Kandev  was sunk, which was vacated and the family is taking shelter in other house.

In Kiran, Lakshman Jurta also narrated his tale of woe as he lost the  big orchard to the landsides  and lost his only source of income.

Lachham   Singh  s/o   Sh. Bali  Ram,   village Shawra  in   Kiran panchayat said his orchard was damaged by foods and big boulders have been pumped in the orchards that had made it difficult to remove them.

Deep Ram Sharma from Puraon village  said over 25 big apple trees were destroyed by the landslide which has damaged land badly.

Bhopinder Sharma village Matlana in Jhiknipul  tell the same story as his apple orchard was inundated by the landside.

Horticultural Development Officer Chopal, Shayam Lal, has been doing a commendable job by seeking reports from the farmers through a WhatsApp group. The reports are revealing the widespread damage suffered by the apple crops and orchards in Chopal Sub-division.

The situation is not confined to Chopal sub-division alone.

Other apple belts in Jubbal-Kotkhai, Rohru, Theog, Kumarsain, Kotgarh, Tikkar, Dodra Kuar, Nankhari, Rampur, Bara Bishi, and various apple-producing belts of Kullu, Mandi, and Chamba are also witnessing similar tales of devastation.

Even farmers producing grains and other crops in Mandi, Bilaspur, Kangra, Una, and Hamirpur have suffered massive damage to their crops and lands, requiring hundreds of crores to reclaim the land.

Adding to their woes, most farmers in Himachal have small land holdings, and the lack of government support in providing adequate land hinders their ability to earn a decent living.

The plight of Himachal's farmers is dire, and urgent support and compensation are needed to help them rebuild their lives and livelihoods.

The Central team is currently visiting flood-hit areas in Shimla, Jubbal Kotkhai and Rohru, but not Chopal, where the farmers have suffered massive damages to the land and orchards and farms.