As anger spilled onto Kashmir’s apple markets on Monday with traders shutting ‘mandis’ (markets) in protest against the continued closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway that has left fruit stocks rotting, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Monday slammed the Centre, urging that the highway be handed over to the Jammu and Kashmir government if they cannot restore it.
Hundreds of fruit laden trucks are stranded on the highway that has remained mostly shut after being badly damaged by the 26 August landslides and flash-floods. Efforts of the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) to fully restore the highway have so far remained futile.
As political pressure mounted on the issue, an angry Omar said the highway is under the domain of the Centre. He said he would talk to Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and tell him “If they can’t restore it, let them hand it over to us”.
“If the highway was under my control, I would open it right now. He criticised the authorities’ handling of the highway”.
The Chief Minister appreciated the introduction of a parcel train to carry apples from Kashmir to Delhi and added that a single train was not sufficient and more trains need to be run for this purpose as the apple season is at its peak and the highway is shut.
Meanwhile, emotional scenes were witnessed at the Sopore mandi, the second largest apple market in Asia, where many orchardists broke down during the protest, crying that their year’s hard work was rotting in stranded trucks while the government was watching silently. Some alleged that after tourism, it was another conspiracy to hit the apple industry of Kashmir.
Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha while flagging off the first dedicated Parcel Train to carry apples from Budgam to Adarsh Nagar, New Delhi, said the disruption of movement at national highways, due to topography and heavy rains, causes damage to fruit growers. The freight train service starting from today will transport apples and other perishable goods every day, he said.
The Parcel train Service (Joint Parcel Product-Rapid Cargo Service) will be operational on all days and is suitable for all parcel commodities. The eight-Parcel-van coach train has the total weight capacity of around 180 tonnes (23 tonnes each coach). The booking for full parcel vans is available in online mode, while smaller consignments can also be booked through off-line mode, said a railway officer.
Reacting on the issue, Kashmir’s chief cleric Mirwaiz Umar Farooq Mirwaiz wrote on X; “Deeply pained by the plight of the protesting fruit growers and orchardists, the backbone of Kashmir’s economy sustaining thousands of families, as fruit-laden trucks rot for days on the highway with no right to passage.
“The Government’s apathy to their plight, pushing their year’s hard work to ruin, is shameful. I urge the authorities to immediately ensure unhindered passage of trucks on priority, to prevent further losses to them and the mental agony it’s causing them.”
Peoples Conference President and MLA, Sajad Gani Lone targeted the Jammu and Kashmir government, accusing it of criminal negligence as Kashmir’s famed apple industry stares at catastrophic losses.