Jammu and Kashmir apple crisis: Nitin Gadkari calls meeting after highway blockade strands fruit-laden trucks

Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari will chair a meeting this afternoon to discuss the worsening condition of the Srinagar–Jammu National Highway, Kashmir’s main road link to the rest of India.

The meeting will be attended by senior officials from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways and the National Highways Authority of India (NHAI). Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, his cabinet colleagues, and senior officials from Jammu and Kashmir will also join the talks via video conferencing.

The meeting comes a day after CM Abdullah spoke to Gadkari, asking him to step in and ensure repairs of the highway to allow traffic—especially stranded apple-laden trucks—to proceed to Delhi.

Frustrated with the delay in restoring the highway, Abdullah had said that if the Centre could not look after the highway, it should be handed over to the J&K government.

The highway has been badly damaged by heavy monsoon rains in August. Landslides and shooting stones have blocked several stretches, making repairs and traffic clearance difficult. 

ALSO READ | Relief on rails, anguish on roads: Cargo train begins as Kashmir apple farmers strike

The worst-hit spot is a 300-metre patch at Tahard in Udhampur district, where stranded vehicles are moving at a snail’s pace.

The blockage has hit Kashmir’s fruit industry hard.

Hundreds of trucks carrying apples are stuck on the road, leaving farmers helpless as their fruits rot. Growers’ associations say losses have already crossed hundreds of crores of rupees. Kashmir’s apple industry is worth more than Rs 8,000 crores a year and supports the livelihood of over 30 lakh people.

The crisis comes just as Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first direct freight train from Srinagar to Delhi on Monday. 

The daily service will carry apples and walnuts directly to Delhi markets in less than 24 hours. The first train, carrying fruits worth Rs 2.5 crores, has already reached the capital.

However, farmers point out that hundreds of trucks which left days earlier are still stuck on the damaged highway, suffering heavy losses.

Frustrated by the situation, the Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union has called a two-day strike, shutting down fruit markets across the Valley on September 14 and 15.

“We have already lost over Rs 1,200 crores. The authorities must let the stranded trucks move towards Jammu and Delhi if they want to save Kashmir’s horticulture,” said Fayaz Ahmed Malik, the President of Sopore Fruit Mandi, one of Asia’s largest fruit markets.

For now, Kashmir’s fruit growers are caught between hope and despair. A new train service promises a bright future, but a broken highway threatens their present.