J&K Lieutenant-Governor Manoj Sinha on Sunday issued directions to officials “to ensure fruit growers, farmers and dealers transporting perishable items like fruits and vegetables do not face inconvenience on the national highway” during the Amarnath yatra.
“It is top priority of the administration to ensure that the movement of perishable items does not face any hurdle and trucks are allowed during the notified time,” Mr. Sinha said.
He directed the administration to streamline traffic for both yatris and traders of fruits and vegetables.
The directions came a day after local traders expressed anger over the security restrictions and frequent halting of trucks on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway, the main yatra route.
Jammu and Kashmir Traffic Police on Sunday issued an advisory for tourists, yatris and trucks, including travel timings and restrictions on the NH44 during the 2022 Amarnath Yatra. According to the advisory issued by the Inspector General of Police, empty tankers and trucks with up to 10 tyres shall ply via Mughal Road towards Jammu.
In a fresh advisory, loaded trucks, with more than 10 tyres, have been asked to reach Jakheni Naka and the Qazigund Naka before 2 p.m. “These trucks shall be parked separately and shall be given preference when traffic is released,” it said.
The timings of the Mughal Road have also been increased from 7 a.m. to 4 p.m., for the present, subject to daily assessment by traffic authorities.
Yatris and tourists in the Kashmir Valley were advised to travel in the Valley only between 7 a.m. to 6 p.m. “They must plan their travel so as to reach their destination within this time period,” it added.
Communist Party of India-Marxist (CPI-M) leader M.Y. Tarigami wrote a letter on Sunday to the L-G and sought his intervention “to ensure free movement of fruit trucks along the national highway”. He wrote: “The harvesting season of various fruits like cherry, plum, apricot and early varieties of apples have already begun and every day hundreds of fruit laden trucks leave for Delhi and other Mandis in the country. However, the lorries ferrying these fruits are being stopped along the arterial national highway for days together to facilitate the Amarnath Yatris resulting in the total damage to the produce, which incur heavy losses to the farmers and traders.”
He said J&K is lacking the facilities to ship fruits with short shelf life by air freight. The letter also said: “The poor farmers are put in a tight spot by the frequent disruptions in the movement of fruit laden trucks amidst soaring temperatures. Around 70 percent of the people in Jammu and Kashmir rely on the fruit industry for their livelihood and therefore any losses suffered by the fruit grower’s impacts fairly a large population.”
