{"id":90992,"date":"2025-09-15T00:10:43","date_gmt":"2025-09-14T18:40:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/?p=90992"},"modified":"2025-09-15T00:10:43","modified_gmt":"2025-09-14T18:40:43","slug":"kashmirs-apple-mandis-to-shut-tomorrow-in-protest-over-highway-mess","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/2025\/09\/15\/kashmirs-apple-mandis-to-shut-tomorrow-in-protest-over-highway-mess\/","title":{"rendered":"Kashmir\u2019s apple mandis to shut tomorrow in protest over highway mess"},"content":{"rendered":"

Fruit growers fume over official apathy: govt, NHAI face fury<\/strong><\/p>\n

Sopore, Sep 14 (KNO): The fruit mandi located on the outskirts of Sopore town used to bustle with activity during the peak apple season, with hundreds of mini-trucks, tractors, and tillers ferrying tens of thousands of apple boxes for sale. But on Sunday evening at 6:30 PM, when this correspondent visited the market\u2014which is usually crowded at this hour\u2014it wore a deserted look, with only a few people present.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The emptiness was the result of a shutdown across all apple markets in Kashmir, including this mandi, scheduled for tomorrow to protest the government\u2019s failure to ensure the unhindered movement of trucks carrying fruit to various markets across the country.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Fruit growers in Kashmir are fretting and fuming over the condition of the Srinagar\u2013Jammu highway\u2014particularly the stretch between Tharad and Balli Nallah, located between Jakhani and Chenani in Udhampur district\u2014which is choking the movement of trucks carrying apples and halting their timely delivery to markets nationwide.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Angered by the government\u2019s apathetic attitude toward the highway crisis, the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union on Sunday announced a two-day closure of all fruit mandis across the Valley on September 14 and 15, 2025, to express their outrage over the halting of fruit-laden trucks on the Srinagar\u2013Jammu National Highway (NH44).<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

In a statement, the fruit growers\u2019 body said that hundreds of trucks carrying perishable fruit consignments remain stranded on the highway and have not been allowed to proceed to their destinations, leading to \u201cmassive damages and heavy losses\u201d for growers.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIn view of the persistent demand of fruit growers and dealers of the Valley, it has been resolved that all mandis will remain closed for business on September 14 and 15. Peaceful protests will also be held from 8 AM to 9 AM on both days against the highway restrictions,\u201d the statement read.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Speaking to reporters, Sopore Fruit Mandi President Fayaz Ahmed Malik said thousands of trucks carrying apples and other fruits are stranded on the highway, causing heavy losses to growers. \u201cWe have already incurred losses of over Rs 1200 crore. If the authorities want to safeguard Kashmir\u2019s horticulture, they should allow the unhindered movement of fruit trucks towards Jammu for at least two days,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

A group of growers told the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that the government appears non-serious about safeguarding the interests of fruit growers. \u201cWhy is the government not ensuring the unhindered movement of fruit trucks on the highway? The government should clarify how many meetings have been convened by the Chief Minister or the Horticulture Minister to resolve the highway crisis,\u201d they said, adding that disruptions in traffic movement could have a devastating impact on Kashmir\u2019s economy and push lakhs of families dependent on the apple industry into crisis.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

They said they have never faced such a situation in the past. \u201cWhen the highway was closed during Central rule, Union Home Minister Amit Shah himself directed the J&K Chief Secretary to facilitate the movement of fruit trucks to the market. Why can\u2019t the elected government ensure the smooth movement of trucks on the highway?\u201d they asked.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to growers, the poor condition of the road between Tharad and Balli Nallah is severely hampering traffic movement. \u201cTraffic is slowing down due to the condition of this patch. It was washed away in recent rains and landslides, and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) has built a temporary muddy road to restore traffic,\u201d they said, adding that NHAI should expedite the reconstruction work.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cIf they continue working at the current pace, it will take months to fully restore the highway,\u201d they said.<\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

When contacted, general manager & regional officer, NHAI, Jammu, Radhe Shyam Yadav said he is busy. \u201cI will talk to you later,\u201d he said\u2014(KNO)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Fruit growers fume over official apathy: govt, NHAI face fury Sopore, Sep 14 (KNO): The fruit mandi located on the outskirts of Sopore town used to bustle with activity during the peak apple season, with hundreds of mini-trucks, tractors, and tillers ferrying tens of thousands of apple boxes for sale. But on Sunday evening at […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":90993,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-90992","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kashmir"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90992","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=90992"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90992\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":90994,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/90992\/revisions\/90994"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/90993"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=90992"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=90992"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.khushalekashmir.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=90992"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}