\nA truck driver shows rotten apples in his vehicle stranded along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, after the highway road was closed following landslide and floods, in Qazigund town, Anantnag district, Indian Kashmir, September 10, 2025 [Sharafat Ali\/Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
Blockade during peak harvest season<\/h2>\n Horticulture forms the backbone of Indian-administered Kashmir\u2019s economy, with the valley producing about 20\u201325 million metric tonnes of apples every year \u2013 roughly 78 percent of India\u2019s total apple output, according to data Al Jazeera collected from fruit growers\u2019 associations.<\/p>\n
The highway blockade coincides with the peak harvest season in Kashmir, locally called \u201charud\u201d, during which apples, walnuts and rice are gathered from thousands of orchards and fields across the valley.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not just me or my village \u2013 this crisis [road closure] is hitting all of Kashmir\u2019s apple growers. Our entire livelihood depends on this harvest,\u201d said Bhat, calling it a second blow to the region\u2019s economy this year after the Pahalgam attack in April, when suspected rebels killed 28 people, severely disrupting tourism \u2013 another key sector in the valley.<\/p>\n
A local government official, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, said about 4,000 trucks have been stranded on the highway at Qazigund area in southern Kashmir\u2019s Anantnag district for two weeks, and the fruit loaded on them has begun to rot, resulting in estimated losses of nearly $146m.<\/p>\n
In protest, growers shut down fruit markets across Kashmir on Monday and Tuesday as they condemned the government\u2019s inability to clear the key road.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf the highway stays blocked for even a few more days, our losses will skyrocket beyond imagination,\u201d Ishfaq Ahmad, a fruit grower in Sopore town, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
Sopore in Baramulla district, about 45km (28 miles) from Srinagar, is home to Asia\u2019s largest fruit market. But the sprawling complex was a scene of despair on Tuesday. Fresh apple crates remained piled up in an endless wait, as each passing day reduced their value, or worse, brought them closer to rotting. Some estimates said the price of an apple box had already fallen from 600 rupees ($7) to 400 rupees ($5).<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have stopped bringing more apples to the market here. We are forced to leave them at the orchards because there is no space left, and the trucks that left earlier are still stranded on the highway,\u201d said Ahmad.<\/p>\n\n\nRotten apples lie on the ground near trucks stranded along the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, after the highway road was closed following landslide and floods, in Qazigund town, Anantnag district, Indian Kashmir, September 10, 2025 [Sharafat Ali\/ Reuters]<\/p>\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n
\u2018Nothing is moving\u2019<\/h2>\n Fayaz Ahmad Malik, president of the Kashmir fruit growers\u2019 association,\u00a0<\/strong>said about 10 percent of the trucks left for New Delhi on Tuesday after a 20-day standstill on the highway, but thousands remain stuck.<\/p>\n\u201cOur preliminary estimates already run into crores [millions],\u201d he said, adding that the government failed to take prompt action when the highway closure first began, worsening the crisis.<\/p>\n
To address the crisis, Manoj Sinha, the region\u2019s top official appointed by New Delhi, on September 15\u00a0<\/strong>launched a dedicated train from Budgam station in the central part of Indian-administered Kashmir to New Delhi to transport the fruit, claiming the move would \u201csignificantly reduce transit time, increase income opportunities for thousands of farmers, and boost the agricultural economy of the region\u201d.<\/p>\n\u201cIt\u2019s essentially a parcel coach linked to a passenger train, not a full-fledged goods train,\u201d a railway official told Al Jazeera, on condition of anonymity because he was not authorised to speak to the media, adding that the train can carry about 23-24 tonnes of produce each day.<\/p>\n
But farmers say the measure offers only limited relief to growers in Kashmir, who produce nearly two million tonnes of apples every year.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt [the special train] is a positive move, but with such capacity, it will only carry roughly one truckload of apples per day, which is far less than what the growers need,\u201d Shakeel Ahmad, an official at a fruit market in Shopian district, told Al Jazeera.<\/p>\n
As anger and frustration over the stalled trucks mount, the region\u2019s Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, who has limited administrative powers in a region controlled directly by New Delhi, on Tuesday said if the federal government cannot keep the highway operational, its control should be handed over to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been patient, waiting for daily assurances that the restoration would be completed, but nothing has been done. Enough is enough,\u201d Abdullah said, speaking to reporters on September 15 in Srinagar, the region\u2019s largest city.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, in a post on X on September 16, Nitin Gadkari, the federal minister for road transport and highways, said more than 50 earthmovers have been deployed in a round-the-clock operation to clear and repair the Jammu-Srinagar highway.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are determined to restore this vital national highway to full strength at the earliest, ensuring safety and convenience for all road users,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n
But the minister\u2019s assurances provide little comfort to Shabir Ahmad, a truck driver at Qazigund, who climbs into his van every morning to inspect the apple boxes.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe have been stranded here for 20 days, and the government has shown no urgency in restoring the road. The losses are beyond imagination,\u201d he told Al Jazeera, adding that the authorities should have understood it was the peak harvest season and acted swiftly.<\/p>\n
He said the farmers who find their produce is rotten unload it silently and take the road back, looking for a place to dispose what once was their season\u2019s hard work. \u201cNothing is moving, and with each passing day, our fruit is turning into waste.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n
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