Highway to Economic Disaster

Prior to the expansion of the Srinagar-Jammu highway, passengers and vehicles loaded with essentials were locked up on the national road for a day or two, providing import and export services without significant loss to passengers, farmers, and apple growers of J&K. Previously It worked fine, however, the situation changed significantly when the National Highway route expansion began. Passengers and essential service vehicles stopped on the Srinagar-Jammu highway for days, causing a disaster for the J&K economy. Unscientific road expansions through vulnerable mountainous areas due to the use of blasts and the vibrations of the heavy machines result in slope instability, and destabilized the rocks, resulting in the removal of vegetation that holds the soil and rocks together tightly which is the reason for these frequent deadly landslides occur on the Jammu-Srinagar highway. Most of the hills around the Jammu-Srinagar highway are rocky and barren, and without scientific methods, natural or man-made disturbances have wreaked havoc on the region. Development is good, but when the same happens in an unscientific way without proper planning, it’s a disaster for everyone. Construction without ecological considerations could pave the way for catastrophes. When the Highway expansion began to occur in an unscientific manner, it creates havoc for the people of J&K, especially for the fruit industry of J&K. Jammu Srinagar Highway is the only road that connects the Kashmir Valley to the rest of the world and we know that the Kashmir Valley is totally dependent on the road for exporting its produce to outer states.If a vehicle loaded with apples remains stranded on the road for several days, these apples and other fruits got damaged due to heaving short life devastating not only to growers but too to the country’s economy to some extent. Apple cultivation is the backbone of J&K’s rural economy. According to J&K Horticultural Ministry, the total apple production in Kashmir in 2020-2021 was 1695000.00 tons and 24415.69 tons in Jammu. J&K UT as a whole produces 171,941,569 tons of apples. The main production area was the Kashmir Valley. We may witness huge losses to the apple growers in the last few months after the unnecessary halting of the fruit-laden trucks on the National highway. If the fruits do not arrive at the market on time, the quality is significantly reduced. After stopping, these trucks for days and suddenly were released at a time they flooded the markets which is another reason for the low price of these apples as supply increases and demand decreases. The expansion of the National Highway which is a vital surface link between Kashmir and the rest of the world became now a headache and disaster for J&K’s economy especially during the peak apple harvesting season due to the frequent closure of the highway by heavy landslides that resulted in stranding several thousand passengers and fruit-laden vehicles, resulting in heavy losses to the growers and other dependent people of the J&K.
Instead of playing a major role in the Indian economy, Kashmir’s apple growers are now in dire straits due to falling apple prices in the market. This happened especially on the 20 km route from his Qazigund to the Banihal sector, where trucks loaded with fruit and essential commodities remained stranded for several days. After the Div. Commoners of Kashmir said they were allowed the stranded vehicles to pass on a priority basis, but the growers of Kashmir faced another big problem, i.e. the high fares charged by the transport companies because of the unavailability of vehicles. The economy of fruit growers in Kashmirwill suffer immeasurably if the apple sector of J&K gets impacted in this way. Govt must effectively find out ways to save the fruit industry of J&K as this is the backbone of the J&K economy.Now this time is the valley’s peak apple harvesting season, we need to find ways to effectively revive the J&K fruit industry. Most people who are dependent on the apple trade can be badly hit if there is any further delay in the Problem. Saving the J&K Apple sector requires proper planning, especially planning on the frequent closure of the Jammu-Srinagar highway and the normal to and fro movement of traffic on this national highway. Scientific methods and expert opinions and suggestions for expansion to save the ecology of the area and to further stop the destructive landslides on highways. Vehicles loaded with Fruits and other necessary items must be allowed to cross on a high priority basis so that the import and export of the essential services will not stop in the J&K, which further leads to sky-touching rates of food other materials, and essential services in the valley and low rates of apples to outside markets.
(The author is an Environmental Specialist. Views are his own)
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