SRINAGAR: A distraught fruit grower in Kashmir discarded over 2,000 boxes of apples from two truckloads after they rotted while stranded on Srinagar-Jammu highway due to prolonged closure. On September 4, Javed Ahmed dispatched two truckloads carrying 2,035 boxes of apples from Pulwama to Aligarh and Sahibabad in UP.
Due to closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway after damage caused to the road by heavy rainshundreds of other fruit trucks were stranded on different parts of the highway.
He decided to visit the point where his trucks were stranded and when he finally managed to reach the spot, his fears were confirmed.
“The apples had completely rotted, it is for the first time that the highway has remained shut for over a fortnight” he said. “Prices of fruits have already crashed, and every passing day is a blow to our livelihood,” he added.