Letter To Editor: This Wasn't Just A Storm. It Was Kashmir's Economic Earthquake.

When the winds came, they didn't knock first. They roared through our valleys, peeling rooftops, smashing hoardings, and ripping through the lifeblood of Kashmir's rural economy: its apple orchards.

In my four decades of public life, I have rarely seen such widespread destruction from a single weather event. This was not just a storm. It was a disaster. Thousands of families in the Valley watched, powerless, as years of hard work vanished in a matter of minutes. Tin roofs flew like paper, electric poles collapsed, and entire trees, heavy with promise, lay broken in the mud.

From the Karewa belt of Pulwama to the hill slopes of Tangmarg, the destruction is uniform. Apple nurseries, carefully nurtured over years, are gone. In Baramulla and Budgam, entire orchards have been reduced to tangled wreckage. These are not isolated losses, they represent an economic collapse for tens of thousands of growers who depend solely on this harvest for their livelihood.

More than 80 percent of the orchards in affected districts are estimated to have suffered damage. Some farmers have lost their entire produce for the next two years. Others have seen the very trees that define their land and their lives uprooted or snapped in half.

The damage hasn't stopped at the farm. Across Srinagar and beyond, the storm tore through neighborhoods. Tin sheets slammed into walls. Hoardings crashed down. Entire homes were stripped open to the sky. Dozens of people have been injured. Vehicles were crushed. Power lines snapped. Transformers were reduced to burnt-out shells. Water pumping stations were damaged, cutting off supply in many areas.

It is hard to find a family untouched.

This is why I am urging the Government of India to declare the Kashmir windstorm a National Disaster under the Disaster Management Act. This is not about labels. It is about justice. When disaster strikes, relief cannot wait for paperwork. It must come with speed, clarity, and compassion.

We cannot rely on traditional damage surveys and official loops while farmers sink deeper into despair. This is the moment for fast-track assessment teams, on-the-ground compensation mechanisms, and a comprehensive relief package tailored to the magnitude of the loss.

We must not underestimate the mental toll. For an orchardist, a tree is not just an asset, it is a legacy. When it falls, so does the sense of continuity, hope, and pride. When dozens fall, so does the future.

This is a time to show unity in leadership, not distance. I call upon Chief Minister Omar Abdullah and Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to rise above protocol and jointly approach Union Home Minister Amit Shah with a clear memorandum. This is not about politics. It is about people.

Kashmir cannot bear another round of sympathetic statements followed by administrative silence. We need urgent action, not symbolic visits or delayed surveys.

Declare this calamity for what it is: a national disaster.

Sincerely,

Hakeem Yaseen

Khansahab

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