SRINAGAR: For Kashmir’s fruit growers, harvest season has become a season of despair, with 2,000–3,000 truckloads of apples rotting on the 270 km Srinagar-Jammu highway, the only road link connecting the region to the rest of the country, which remains closed.
Fruit growers and traders have lost over Rs 1,000 crore, with losses still climbing and threatening the livelihood of thousands in the Valley.
“This year we had a bumper harvest of apples. It was meant to bring relief to growers across the Valley,” said a fruit grower, Altaf Ahmed of Sopore, Baramulla.
“It is peak harvest season, and the continued highway closure has turned our joy into sorrow”.
“We are watching our hard work decay before our eyes,” he said.
The Valley, which produces about 20-25 lakh metric tonnes of apples annually, is dependent on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway for the transportation of fruits to different markets of the country.
The highway was closed for vehicular traffic after damage caused to the road by heavy rainfall on August 25. Though light vehicles have recently been allowed, trucks are still not permitted due to the bad road conditions.
According to Bashir Ahmad Basheer, Chairman of the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers-cum-Dealers Union, about 2000-3000 trucks loaded with apples and pears are stranded at various points along the highway.
“Since these are perishable items, much of the fruit would have rotted by now. Trucks have been stranded for nearly 20 days,” he said.
“Each truck carries 700-1200 apple boxes valued between Rs 10-15 lakhs. We fear that 30 lakh apple boxes may have decayed due to prolonged closure”.
Bashir said losses of fruit growers and traders have already crossed over Rs 1,000 crores.
“The losses are increasing with each day, and fruit growers are in despair”.
The impact is being felt across all major fruit mandis in the Valley. Kashmir has 12 fruit mandis.
Fayaz Ahmad Malik, President of Fruit Mandi Sopore, known as Apple Town, said normally 200-300 apple trucks used to leave from Sopore to different markets of the country daily.
“Now, not only are our trucks stuck on the highway but many remain loaded in the mandi itself. The apples are rotting in the trucks, fruit mandis and godowns, and the losses keep piling up,” he said.
An apple grower, Javed Ahmed, said things are looking very bleak as “our produce is rotting in trucks, mandis and at our homes”.
“We pour our souls into these orchards and are now watching the apples rot helplessly,” he said.
“We are worried about our livelihood and staring at a very dark future”.
Javed said that although Railways has introduced parcel service, it can transport only a fraction, and “we are still dependent on highway for transportation of fruits. With road transport paralyzed, our entire supply chain has broken, demand has dropped and so have prices.”
Mohammad Ashraf, President of the Shopian Fruit Growers and Dealers Association, said even in this era of advanced technology, it is shameful that highway remains closed for such a long time.
“The government must use modern machinery to restore the highway and, if necessary, hand over the highway to the army for restoration,” he said.
The fruit growers are demanding serious and swift action from the LG and Omar government for transportation of apples to different markets in the country.
As a mark of protest, all fruit mandis in Kashmir would remain closed for two days from Sunday against halting of fruit-laden trucks on the Srinagar–Jammu Highway, Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union announced.
Senior National Conference MLA Dr. Bashir Ahmed Veeri sought urgent action on highway restoration.
“Apple trucks stranded for days on NH44, losses already Rs 1200 Cr+. Growers say highway mismanagement is destroying the backbone of our economy. Deliberate design to ruin our economy. Lakhs of families depend on horticulture. Yet perishable produce is rotting on the road while growers wait in despair. A region that feeds millions is being pushed to the brink by NH44 mess. 2 km of road stretches are not being repaired with the urgency,” Veeri posted on X.
“This is not politics. It’s survival. When apples can’t reach markets, the entire economy bleeds. Urgent action on highway restoration is the only way to safeguard Kashmir’s lifeline,” the NC MLA added.
