Source: CCTV news client
It's spring season in Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. However, a sudden snowfall caused a large number of flowers to wither the flowers of the local fruit trees. Local fruit farmers say their income comes mainly from their orchards, and that the sudden snowfall has destroyed their only hope for a livelihood.
This is the Nirkh district of Maidan, the capital of Wardak province in eastern Afghanistan. Seventy-three-year-old Mora Sher Zaman was at a loss when snowfall not only destroyed his house, but also damaged his crops.
Local farmer Mora Sher Zaman: The courtyard walls have collapsed, the houses have collapsed, and our crops have suffered. They are all in bloom, and the cherries, apricots, apples, and pears are finished. Nothing.
Fruit farmer Mohammed Salim says the trees are the main source of his family's livelihood. Now the flowers are withering, the fruit trees are not bearing fruit, and the hope of life is shattered.
Mohammed Salim, local fruit farmer: The snowfall has devastated us by destroying the flowers of fruit trees. People have been toiling hard, but now everything is gone. These flowers were our only hope, but they were all ruined by the snowfall.
Gula Young, 53, said snowfall is rare in the spring. He lived to be in his 50s, and this was the first time he encountered it. He hoped that the government would help them.
Gula Jan, a local fruit farmer: We asked the government to help us, we have no other source of income. They should come and take a closer look and assess the damage we have suffered as a result of this snowfall.
(Source: CCTV News Client)