Excelsior Correspondent
SRINAGAR, July 3: Senior CPI (M) leader and former MLA, Mohammed Yousuf Tarigami has sought seamless movement of fruit laden trucks along the National Highway.
In a letter flashed to the Lt Governor of J&K UT, Manoj Sinha, Tarigami said that the harvesting season of various fruits like cherry, plum, apricot and early varieties of apples have already begun and every day hundreds of fruit laden trucks leave for Delhi and other Mandis in the country.
However, the vehicles carrying these fruits are being stopped along the National Highway (NH-44) for days together to facilitate the Amarnath Yatris, resulting in the total damage to the produce, which incur heavy losses to the farmers and traders.
He said the people of Jammu and Kashmir have always welcomed, hosted and protected the Amarnath Yatris, but disrupting the free movement of fruit trucks under the pretext of Yatra could no way be justified.
As Jammu and Kashmir is lacking the facilities to ship the fruits with short shelf life by air freight, the poor farmers are put in a tight spot by the frequent disruptions in the movement of fruit laden trucks amidst soaring temperatures. The farmers have already suffered post-harvest losses due to protracted lockdowns and natural calamities over the past few years.
He said around 70 percent of the people in Kashmir rely on the fruit industry for their livelihood and therefore, any losses suffered by the fruit grower’s impacts fairly a large population.
Tarigami exhorted upon the LG to ensure smooth and seamless movement of fruit laden trucks along the NH-44. He also demanded the review of the traffic advisory issued in connection with the Yatra, so that the people could not be put through the mill.
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