The unlikely turn in the weather inflicted huge loss to the apple produce. The early snowfall, first time in last almost a decade, reminded us the bygone winters, when snow would arrive early. It also brings some joy in terms of refreshing environs. It retrieves the long buried memories when winters were winters. But there is a black side to snow as well. Not just in terms of how the basic amenities of life, like electricity, turn absent, but also how this region is thrown into a haunting silence. As if none is responsible for any administration of affairs here. People are left to fend for themselves. Three inch snow buries all the Himalayan rhetoric about governance and administration. But now we are all used to it, and we know that a couple of days or more it all will pass. But what will not likely pass is the huge loss suffered by those of us who are associated with the apple business. We know, even if our economy is not so big, orchids is our mainstay. The apple business is something that earns us good revenue, and makes our markets run for the rest of the year. The huge number of families that directly depend on this business, and those who are associated with this trade one way or the other, know well what has befallen them. In such a situation the only recourse is the government assistance. The question that surfaces up is that in case of a loss what are the securities provided to the orchidists. In a world where every thing, from cars to computers, stand insured, do we have any such mechanism in place. We all know that agriculture is an activity that is heavily dependant on weather. Has our government taken any serious steps to address the farmers’ worries. Is a produce like apple, that earns good cash, subject to any such securities or is it just fate that decides it all. This is time to ask the question; what has government put in place, in terms of affirmative action, to insure the produce, and make growers less vulnerable to the vagaries of weather.
Snow hits hard
