Over 100 animals killed as hailstorm hits Rajouri
Heavy rainfall followed by a hailstorm killed at least 100 animals on Tuesday evening in the Thanamandi area of Jammu and Kashmir (J&K)’s Rajouri district, officials said.
According to Rajouri district sheep husbandry officer Dr Ramesh Manhas, the animals — sheep and goats — were a part of 700 others that belonged to ten families of the nomadic Bakarwal community.
The families were moving the animals to higher reaches of the region due to the inclement weather when a mudslide occurred, he said.
No loss of human life or injury was reported in the incident, he added. A rescue operation was mounted by the police for retrieving trapped animals.
The police team, led by sub divisional police officer(SDPO), Thanamandi, Iftikhar Choudhary, coordinated the rescue while a team from the sheep husbandry department reached the spot for treating injured livestock.
“As per initial assessment, 100 sheep and goats belonging to around 10 families were killed in
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the late evening incident. Moreover, the debris is being cleared from the area and more carcasses may be buried underneath.”
“The team from the (district) administration is assessing the losses enabling relief and compensation,” he added.
WIDESPREAD DAMAGE Meanwhile the hailstorm wreaked havoc with the standing wheat and paddy crops across the Thanamandi block which has a population of roughly 50,000.
Fruit orchards and homes are also reported to have been damaged. “Teams comprising of different departments are assessing the damage of livestock and property due to the hailstorm. The teams would cover the entire block, as we are getting information about losses from many areas. So once we complete the process, the exact extent of damages would be established, on that basis relief would be provided ...” said the sub-divisional magistrate of Thanamandi.