The heart of Kashmir’s apple belt is in distress. The Fruit Association Shopian has raised an urgent alarm over mounting losses caused by the repeated halts of fruit-laden trucks along the Mughal Road — a vital lifeline for the region’s apple trade.
In a passionate press conference, the Association criticized the administration for severely limiting the movement of trucks — allowing them to pass only for a couple of hours a day, and that too, restricting it to six-tyre vehicles. This bottleneck has left thousands of trucks, loaded with perishable apples, stranded for days.
Mohammad Ashraf, President of the Fruit Mandi Shopian, did not mince words. “This isn’t just a traffic issue—it’s a slow death for Kashmir’s apple industry,” he said. “We receive late traffic advisories, and our trucks from Shopian get a narrow window, while traffic from the Poonch side flows freely all day. How is that fair?”
On Thursday, only about 150 six-tyre trucks managed to get through. Most of the allowed vehicles were not carrying fruit — but rather oil, poultry, and other cargo. Ashraf warned that the backlog could leave thousands of trucks waiting two or more days, risking the spoilage of tons of apples, a staple of Kashmir’s economy.
“If six-tyre trucks are the rule, at least allow them to move the entire day on alternate days,” Ashraf urged. “Every hour matters when you’re transporting perishable goods.”
In parallel, dozens of truck drivers staged a protest near the Circuit House Shopian, voicing their anger and desperation. They alleged that traffic police failed to follow their own advisories, leaving many vehicles parked for hours while only a few passed every two hours.
“Our apples are rotting while we wait. If this continues, the losses will be unbearable—not just for us, but for the entire region that relies on this crop,” said one visibly upset driver.
This is not a one-time issue. Every harvest season, similar scenes play out across South Kashmir. The community is calling for urgent attention—not just to a roadblock, but to a systemic oversight that endangers the livelihoods of lakhs of families who depend on apple cultivation and trade.
One grower from Shopian put it plainly: “Apple is not just a fruit here. It’s our pride. It’s our survival. If it decays in transit, so does the economy of an entire valley.”
The growers and transporters have made a joint plea to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha and former Chief Minister Omar Abdullah to personally intervene and ensure uninterrupted, fair, and timely movement of fruit trucks along Mughal Road—before it’s too late.
