Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: President of Kashmir Valley Fruit Growers Cum Dealers Union (KVFGCDU) Bashir Ahmad demanded of the authorities concerned to take notice of the stopping of 6000 fruit-laden trucks on Srinagar-Jammu highway to reach Indian Illegally Occupied Jammu & Kashmir.

He said since October 02 the situation has again reached to square one with 6,000 trucks waiting for their turn to move towards Jammu. He said that among the apple-laden trucks, which are waiting for their turn, there are a few hundred trucks which have been waiting for their turn since October 2.

He said that on every alternate day around 3000 trucks are getting loaded here in Kashmir but just a few hundred are allowed to move towards Jammu and others get time after three, five or even seven days to move towards Jammu.

He said the claims of the authorities are confined to press notes only and the situation is worse on the ground.

“I have never witnessed such things in the last four years,” he said, adding, “Even Indian Home Minister Amit Shah’s assurances have proved a hoax on the ground.”

He said the market is also getting down each passing day as fruits are reaching markets late. Notably, around 70 percent of the population in Kashmir is directly or indirectly dependent on the apple industry.