Excelsior Correspondent
Srinagar, July 2: Fruit growers and dealers from North Kashmir today staged a protest at Fruit Mandi Sopore against stopping the fresh fruit-laden trucks on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway in view of the Amarnath Yatra due to which they said that they were suffering huge losses.
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Several fruit growers and dealers assembled at the Mandi to protest the move while they urged the administration to ensure hassle-free passage to all such trucks on the National Highway.
“We are facing huge losses as the trucks remain stuck on the national highway; Yatris are our guests, but what is the fun of not allowing the trucks to move,” one of the growers, Ghulam Mohammad Malik said.
He said that nearly 50-60 trucks leave from Sopore Mandi every day, but he said that the same remains stuck. “We have our time concerning the passage of trucks even as we have been assured priority passage at all the points,” he said.
The protestors said that there is a need for putting in place a strategy to ensure free passage of trucks so that the fruits reach the mandis well in time. “The administration has already issued guidelines in this regard; we have been told that there is a different timing for yatris and a different one for the fruit trucks, and they need to stick to that.”
They said that they have already suffered huge losses over the past several years and now they have to face more losses if fresh fruit-laden trucks are not allowed smooth passage along the highway. “LG needs to intervene and resolve the issue without any delay,” the protestors said.
The protestors urged Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to intervene in the matter and direct for smooth and hassle-free movement of fruit-laden trucks on the national highway.
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