Srinagar, Oct 8: Halting of fruit laden trucks on Srinagar-Jammu national highway continues to play havoc with farmers’ livelihoods, with about 6000 trucks waiting, some since October 2, to reach Jammu city.
President Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union (KVFGCDU) Bashir Ahmad told news agency Kashmir News Observer (KNO) that for a few days apple laden trucks were allowed to move towards Jammu while halting for just one or two days.
“Since October 2 the situation is back to the square one, with 6000 trucks waiting for their turn to move towards Jammu”, he said.
He further said that the among the apple laden trucks, which are waiting for their turn, there are few hundred trucks which are waiting for their turn since October 2.
He said that on every alternate day around 3000 trucks are getting loaded here in Kashmir but just a few hundred are allowed to move towards Jammu while others get a green signal only after three, five or even seven days to move towards Jammu.
He said that the government claims of addressing the crisis are confined to paper directions only, while the situation on the ground is very desperate for farmers and truck drivers.
“I have never witnessed such things in last four years,” he said, adding, “even meeting the Home Minister Amit Shah and others have borne no fruits, with their assurances not able to translate into practice”.
He said that the market demand for Kashmir apples is also getting down each passing day as fruits are reaching markets very late.
Notably, around 70 percent of population in Kashmir are directly or indirectly dependent on apple industry. —(KNO)
