Fruit mandis across Kashmir shut for second day

Fruit mandis across Kashmir shut for second day

Srinagar: As a mark of protest to press their demand of allowing fruit laden-trucks to proceed on the national highway from Qazigund, fruit mandis across Kashmir valley remained shut for the second consecutive day on Monday.
Several fruit growers and traders said that they face mounting losses due to the authorities “unnecessarily blocking” the movement of trucks at Qazigund. “Despite government directions, authorities have failed to ensure movement of apple-laden trucks on the national highway,” they alleged.
Fruit carrying trucks are being halted at Qazigund for about a week now at Qazigund, despite directives from the administration to ensure their hassle-free movement, Mudasir Ahmed, a fruit trader, said.
“It was earlier taking seven days for trucks from Sopore fruit mandi to reach Bangladesh but now it’s taking at least 12-15 days,” said Fazzul Rehman, a Bangladeshi trader who has been buying from Fruit Mandi Sopore for decades. He added that he is on the verge of winding up the business due to huge losses.
Notably, on Monday last, the IGP Traffic directed all SSPs of traffic including the SSP National Highway to take immediate necessary measures so that fruit-laden trucks are provided a smooth passage and are not stranded. Besides, extra time may be given to the down convoy to Jammu to ensure clearance of stranded fruit-laden vehicles. The administration also assured that no vehicle would be allowed for up traffic on days when HMVs are moving down, to ensure hassle-free movement.

 

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