The government of Jammu and Kashmir on Thursday accorded sanction to declare the heavy snowfall during 3 to 9 January as “State Specific Calamity”.
In order number 02-JK (DMRRR) of 2021, the government said that “sanction is hereby accorded to the declaration of the spell of heavy/very heavy snowfall during the period 3 to 9 January 2021, as ‘State Specific Calamity’ in terms of para 3 (ii) of State Disaster Response Fund (SDRF) guidelines issued by MHA.”
The order read that it is for the “purposes of providing relief to the affected families and Departments from SDRF”.
The snowfall in the first week of 2021 was rare as it snowed heavily for several days and in south Kashmir districts, where the impact of the storm was maximum, the roads and orchards were filled with four to five feet of snow. The videos of houses collapsing had gone viral on social media, showing the impact of heavy snowfall.
