Traders protest at Srinagar’s Parimpora fruit and vegetable market on Tuesday. (Express photo by Shuaib Masoodi)Anger is brewing among fruit and vegetable traders in the Valley as they allege trucks carrying perishable items are being unnecessarily stopped on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway, causing a huge loss to them.
Traders at the New Kashmir Fruit Mandi Association in Srinagar’s Parimpora, the Valley’s biggest fruit and vegetable market, had earlier announced an indefinite strike beginning on Monday. However, they said on Tuesday that they will suspend the strike on Wednesday in view of Ramzan following an appeal by the civil society and authorities.
“Since January, fruits and vegetable-laden trucks arriving from different parts of the country are frequently and deliberately being stopped at different spots on Srinagar-Jammu National Highway for weeks together, particularly at Udhampur naka. Similarly, trucks loaded with apples from various cold stores of the Valley were also stopped on the way for days together at Qazigund and various nakas on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway,” said Muhammad Ayub Bhat, general secretary of the fruit association. “This unjustified practice by the Governor’s machinery resulted in losses of thousand of crores to fruit and vegetable growers.”
Basheer Ahmad, the association’s president, said it is causing a lot of problems to the dealers. “The trucks are carrying perishable items and once they reach Srinagar, the items are mostly damaged and it causes huge losses to us,” he said.
However, officials in Srinagar said they are providing all possible assistance to traders. “Consumable items are a top priority for NH traffic management. There hasn’t been any substantial blockade of roads after the one in the last week of February. Even in that phase we didn’t receive complaints of any large-scale spoiled perishable items. I have advised the traders to also keep a check at supply point to ensure stale material is not supplied to them,” Srinagar Deputy Commissioner Shahid Chaudhary said.
The traders at Parimpora Mandi began their strike against alleged harassment on the national highway on Monday.
“Following an appeal by authorities and civil society, because of arrival of the month of Ramzan, it was decided to suspend the strike from Wednesday in a meeting on Tuesday,” said Ayub.
