SHOPIAN: Essential goods are running out of stock at shops in south Kashmir’s Shopian villages due to Covid-19 lockdown.
Aashiq Hussain, a local shopkeeper, who used to go to Shopian market for buying goods, has not come out of his house since lockdown was imposed.
People here complain of a shortage of essentials in the market and say they are sceptical of their stock can last during this 21-day lockdown.
“Most of the items have been sold out and I tried to contact wholesalers, but due to lockdown they are stuck at their homes,” Hussain said.
Vegetables are running short as local produce has been hit by the longest winter.
Fruit growers said they couldn’t buy fertilizers and other essentials during this season.
“I cannot open the shop amid restrictions,” said Muneer Hussain, who sells fertilizers in the village.
An important fungicide spray is also running short in many villages in Shopian.
“We cannot bear the losses if we miss fungicide spray,” Gulzar Ahmed, an orchardist owing around 35 kanals of orchard land, said.

Raashid Hassan