The 300-km-long Srinagar-Jammu Highway, the only road linking Kashmir with the rest of the country, remained closed for the seventh consecutive day. The Valley witnessed an acute shortage of essential commodities, including vegetables, meat, milk and fruits.The prices of available goods too went up manifold. “Onion and potato prices have increased three-fold,” said Abdul Rashid a hotel-owner in Srinagar. “The rates of meat and chicken have also gone up drastically.”To tackle the crisis, the Jammu and Kashmir government on Sunday used choppers to ferry vegetables and ferried four truckloads of sheep bypassing the damaged road. “We have tran-shipped four trucks of sheep,” Minister for Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution Taj Moihideen said. Fresh vegetables, milk and eggs were also airlifted from Jammu to Srinagar, he added.High prices of essential commodities have left residents of the city a worried lot. “All bazaars in the Valley are running out of essential supplies,” said Ghulam Nabi, a resident. The Jammu Srinagar highway closed down on March 12 after heavy snow and landslides at Panithal.
