Silted fields leave Pulwama farmers staring at ruin
Pulwama, Nov 4: Vast stretches of farmland in Pulwama’s Kakapora area lie buried under a thick crust of yellow-brown silt — the lingering scar of September’s floods that ravaged south Kashmir’s agricultural heartland.
The once ripening paddy crop now lies flattened and coated with sediment, a grim reminder of the torrential rains that struck in late August and September, just as farmers were preparing for harvest.
“By the last week of October, harvesting is usually completed,” said Ghulam Nabi Ganie, a farmer from Naman village. “But this year, our fields are still covered with silt. The crop is too wet to cut, and most of it is rotting.”
He said that by early November, farmers would normally be preparing their fields for the next sowing season. “Now, we are just waiting for the land to dry. The floods have set us back completely,” Ganie added.
Unseasonal downpours submerged farmlands across Pulwama, choking irrigation channels and leaving behind a thick layer of silt. In Kakapora alone, dozens of villages were hit, damaging the paddy crop at a crucial stage of ripening.
“Torrential rains caused heavy waterlogging and covered fields with silt,” said Touseef Ahmad, Agriculture Extension Officer for Kakapora. “Nearly 28 villages were affected. The department has assessed the losses and submitted a report for compensation.”
Ahmad said some farmers insured their crops under the Pradhan Mantri Fasal Bima Yojana (PMFBY) and would be eligible for relief once claims are processed. But for many, the losses are total.
“My fields are still waterlogged,” said Ali Muhammad, a farmer from Kakapora. “The silt has hardened over the flattened plants. Everything is wasted. We appeal to the government to help us so we can start again.”
Farmers say the proposed compensation of Rs 800 per kanal is meagre compared to their losses. “It doesn’t even cover the cost of fertilizer and labour, let alone the income we’ve lost,” another farmer said.
With harvest season slipping away and farmlands still coated in silt, farmers across Kakapora fear that the floods will have long-term consequences — not just for this year’s yield, but for the next planting cycle as well.
