No Stemming The Rot in Valley

Wani this year was eagerly waiting for his fruit crop to ripen and began plucking and packaging the first apples and pears, as he badly needed money for the marriage of his daughter, Gulshan (20). “I have lost hopes of earning any money this year,” said Wani. “I used to sell my apples at Sopore fruit mandi. Now, there are no buyers after the blockade.”

With the fruits rotting, Wani has now postponed his daughter’s marriage. “This year, it will be difficult for me to keep the my kitchen fire burning, as I only grow early varieties of apples and pears in my orchards.”

Fruit is one of the mainstays of Kashmir economy, with over 3 million people being directly or indirectly associated with its trade. Kashmir annually produces 15 to 17 lakh metric tonnes of fruits.

Since the blockade, Valley growers have already suffered losses of Rs 500 crore. “We are not plucking fresh fruits from our orchards,” said Mohammad Maqbool Mir, who owns a small orchard in Sopore town. “This time, apples are rotting not only in cold storages but also in the orchards.”

Pear comprises eight per cent of the total fruit yield. Around 60 per cent of the fruit either rotted or perished in the orchards. “The time of the blockade was when Kashmir was exporting perishable varieties of fruits,” said Mohammad Ashraf Lone, grower and fruit commission agent at Sopore fruit mandi.

Before the national highway was blocked, around 200 trucks used to be dispatched to various destinations every day.

Area Marketing Manager, Sopore fruit mandi, Mohammad Ashraf said the growers have suffered heavy losses over the past four weeks. Though trucks have started running, things do not look very encouraging,” he, however, added.

In 2007, two crore apple boxes were exported from Sopore mandi alone. “Every grower or commission agent has been affected here,” said Abdul Majid, a commission agent who claims to have lost Rs 15 lakh after his three trolleys were looted and 12 others were stuck for days together on the national highway on August 4 near Samba.

Even as the Government claims to have restored the highway with the help of the Army, not many trucks are plying . “No Kashmiri driver is willing to take our fruits as they fear attacks from the communal forces in different parts of the country. The highway is not secure at all,” said Mohammad Arshid, who dispatches fruits to different mandis across the country. “Even non-Kashmiri drivers are not ready to transport our fruit,” he added.

With losses in the fruit trade increasing, the growers are now demanding opening of an alternate route via Pakistan Occupied Kashmir (PoK). “After the blockade, the situation is disastrous for the fruit industry as every day we are losing lakhs,” he said.

“Fruit is our bread and butter and some communal forces are trying to destroy it,” said Ghulam Rasool Bhat, president Fruit Growers and Dealers Association.