Traffic Disruption, ‘Unprecedented’ Losses Spoil Kashmir’s Fruit Harvest
Srinagar : The prolonged closure of the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway has pushed Kashmir’s apple industry into crisis, leaving growers not only without earnings but also forcing them to pay for dumping their rotting produce.
At Srinagar’s Parimpora fruit mandi, heaps of spoilt apples lie scattered, turning the marketplace into what traders call a “dumping ground.”
“We hired trucks and loaded our apples with a hope. But after being stuck for days on the highway, the fruit came back rotten. Now we spend more money to throw it away,” said apple growers in Parimpora Mandi.
A grower from Sopore present at the mandi, said that situation is unbearable. “We can’t store them (apples), we can’t sell them. The smell is suffocating. We are forced to hire labourers to clear heaps of our own fruit,” he lamented.
“This is the first time I have seen growers paying for the destruction of their own produce,” said Mohammad Yousuf, a Sopore-based trader who was in the mandi to check his returned rotten stock.
The crisis comes at a time when September marks the peak harvest of varieties like Gala and Red Delicious.
“The market is completely closed. For more than 15 days, the highway has been shut,” said, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, Chairman of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers and Dealers Union (KVFGDU).
“This is the beginning of the season and the loss has increased considerably. Fruit growers can’t bear it,” he said.
Growers had pinned hopes on the recently expanded railway services to ease transport, but that too has failed. “The train service was expected to provide relief, but it is not operating as required. That hope too is fading now,” Bashir said.
He added that the Mughal Road, which could have served as a vital alternative, remains underutilised for fruit-laden trucks. “At a time when every day counts, this route has not been fully opened. It adds to the losses of growers,” he said.
Moreover, the growers’ union appealed for urgent highway restoration on a war footing. “If work is carried out round the clock, the season can still be saved,” Bashir said, warning of a ripple effect on the Valley’s economy if the crisis drags on
