SRINAGAR: The unwanted repair work on Jammu Kahmir Highway, which connects the disputed region to the rest of India, have halted thousands of trucks carrying millions of dollars worth of apples, all the produce of growers begins to rot.
The situation is triggering protests by growers as their they are facing a worst loss, A union leader said.
There are more than 8,000 trucks carrying apples worth one billion rupees, or about $12.25 million stranded on the highway for the last two weeks, office bearer of Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers and Dealers Union, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, said while talking to media.
Mudasir Ahmad Bhat, who heads the Fruit Buyers and Forwarding Agents Association in Kashmir, said the trucks are being stopped on the highway for a month now. “Thousands of trucks with apple of high quality are rotting. We cannot even calculate the losses, they are inexplicable,” he said.
He said that the apples are the mainstay of Kashmir’s economy but they are perishable items. “When we are talking to concerned authoritires, we are only being given hollow assurances by the government. Everyone related to the trade is anxious and depressed”.
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