{"id":90846,"date":"2025-09-08T23:38:42","date_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:08:42","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/?p=90846"},"modified":"2025-09-08T23:38:42","modified_gmt":"2025-09-08T18:08:42","slug":"highway-halt-cripples-kashmirs-fruit-economy-growers-say-losses-cross-rs-200-cr-operations-halted-in-asias-second-largest-fruit-mandi-president-says-losses-could-double-if-highway-remains","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/08\/highway-halt-cripples-kashmirs-fruit-economy-growers-say-losses-cross-rs-200-cr-operations-halted-in-asias-second-largest-fruit-mandi-president-says-losses-could-double-if-highway-remains\/","title":{"rendered":"Highway halt cripples Kashmir\u2019s fruit economy; growers say losses cross Rs 200 cr Operations halted in Asia’s second largest fruit mandi; president says losses could double if highway remains shut"},"content":{"rendered":"

Srinagar, Sep 08:<\/strong>\u00a0Kashmir\u2019s fruit economy has been brought to its knees with losses crossing Rs 200 crore as the Srinagar\u2013Jammu National Highway remains shut, leaving hundreds of trucks stranded and perishable consignments rotting on the road.<\/p>\n

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The situation has forced Asia\u2019s second-largest fruit mandi in Sopore to suspend operations for two days.<\/p>\n

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The Kashmir fruit growers and dealers association president, Fayaz Ahmad Malik, @ Kaka Ji, speaking to the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO), said that hundreds of fruit-laden trucks are stuck on the highway.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWe are already staring at losses worth over Rs 200 crore. If the highway doesn\u2019t reopen, it may touch Rs 400 crore,\u201d he said. \u201cWe have decided to halt all trading activities on Tuesday and Wednesday to prevent further damage. We cannot afford more consignments to be wasted.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Malik said highly perishable produce, particularly Bagogosha pears and Gala apples, has suffered the worst damage. \u201cWe had already appealed to growers to stop harvesting and packing until the situation improves. Unfortunately, the stranded stock is deteriorating fast,\u201d he informed.<\/p>\n

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Growers across the valley are in despair. \u201cIt feels like 2022 all over again. We suffered huge losses then, and today we are staring at an even bigger disaster\u201d, Fayaz Ahmed, a grower from Sopore, said.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhat used to be sold at Rs 600 per box is now down to Rs 400\u2033, said Abdul Rashid, a grower from Rafiabad, adding that if authorities don\u2019t intervene immediately, the industry will collapse.<\/p>\n

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Authorities, however, have allowed partial movement of vehicles through the Mughal Road. \u201cSix-tyre trucks have been permitted to move, but we are demanding permission for 10-tyre vehicles as well. Only then can the stranded load be cleared\u201d, Mandi president said.<\/p>\n

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Traders and growers have jointly appealed to the government to treat fruit trucks as a priority for movement, warning that prolonged disruption will devastate the sector that sustains lakhs of families across the valley.<\/p>\n

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\u201cKashmir\u2019s economy is horticulture-driven. If this highway remains shut, the backbone of our economy will break,\u201d the growers said\u2014(KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Srinagar, Sep 08: Kashmir’s fruit economy has been brought to its knees with losses crossing Rs 200 crore as the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway remains shut, leaving hundreds of trucks stranded and perishable consignments rotting on the road. The situation has forced Asia’s second-largest fruit mandi in Sopore to suspend operations for two days.   The Kashmir […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90847,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90846","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-jammu"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90846","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=90846"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90846\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90848,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90846\/revisions\/90848"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90847"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90846"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90846"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90846"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}