As thousands of tons of apple rot in trucks stranded along the Srinagar-Jammu National highway, distressed farmers launched protests and shut fruit markets across Jammu and Kashmir.
After last month's heavy rains and cloudbursts, the Srinagar-Jammu highway suffered massive damages, particularly near Udhampur. Despite efforts to restore this vital road link, the highway couldn't be fully operationalised. This led to a shortage of essential supplies and severe disruption in transportation of horticulture produce.
After speaking with Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah said concrete steps will be taken in the next 24 hours to address the problem. He also asked the Centre to handover the road to the state government if they are unable to restore it.
Horticulture is the backbone of rural economy of Kashmir, producing about 80 per cent of India's total apple supply. The unprecedented disruption in transportation has hit the supply chain of fruit across the country. Frustrated, apple growers held protests across Kashmir and blamed the government for inaction and failing to anticipate a crisis after the closure of road.
Thousands of crores of rupees have been spent on the construction of the all-weather four-lane Srinagar- Jammu highway. While it reduced travel time, the recent heavy rains exposed the fragile nature this road. Many argued that widening and construction of highway was done without proper risk assessment and disaster management strategy in the geologically unstable region.
