Wholesale fruit markets remained shut across Kashmir on Monday in protest against the government’s failure to reopen the Srinagar-Jammu highway, closed since a spate of landslides three weeks ago.

Fruits have been rotting by the crateful in the hundreds of trucks stuck on the highway, unable to reach outside markets. The estimated losses range from ₹500 crore to
₹700 crore.

The protests coincided with the Valley flagging off its maiden fruit train — a freight or parcel train carrying fruits, mainly apples, to outside markets.

The launch of the service was prompted by the widespread anger at the authorities’ alleged lack of seriousness in reopening the highway, and was billed by the government as a big gesture that would usher in a new era for Kashmir’s fruit trade.

However, while welcoming the train service, the fruit growers have emphasised that it cannot be an alternative to road transport. They said around 1,000 fruit trucks left Kashmir every day during peak season, and that a parcel train could ferry only a fraction of what the trucks carried.

So far, a second parcel train has been scheduled for Tuesday, without any clarity how long the service would continue.

Many apple growers see in the prolonged highway closure a conspiracy to cripple the region’s rural economy.

Apples are the mainstay of Kashmir’s rural economy, providing livelihood to tens of thousands of families. While the highway was opened to light vehicles recently, the trucks are still stranded.

Fayaz Ahmad Malik, president of the fruit mandi or wholesale market in Sopore, said the highway closure was ruining the businesses of the apple growers, transporters and outside buyers.

He accused the Omar Abdullah government of doing little to resolve the crisis: “Not one out of the 60 Assembly members from Kashmir spoke on the issue.”

Malik said the chief minister should resign if he was unable to address the concerns.

He claimed the highway “blockade” was part of a “conspiracy” to destroy the Valley’s fruit industry, and warned that the growers would call a Valley-wide strike if the highway wasn’t reopened fully within 48 hours.

Fruit growers said that wholesale markets had remained shut also in Shopian, Kulgam, Anantnag and other towns. The shutdown will continue on Tuesday.

Omar fumes

A fuming Omar on Monday asked Delhi to hand the highway over to his government if it couldn’t reopen it.

“If the highway were mine, I would have opened it. The highway is of the Government of India. If they can’t do it, hand it over to me. I can deploy my engineers,” he said.

“We were patient because they would tell us every day that it (reopening) would happen today. But it didn’t.”

Omar thanked the railway ministry for starting the parcel train service but said one or two trains wouldn’t do the job and it should be turned into a proper service.

Kashmir’s fruit season begins in May with cherries. Pears and other fruits are harvested in the following months. Apples, the biggest crop, are harvested in autumn. The bulk of the produce goes to markets in Delhi, Bengaluru, Mumbai and other places.

Fruit growers said they had a bumper crop this year but heavy rain had taken a huge toll, causing floods and landslides that closed highways.

The National Conference government claims that fruit transport remains its foremost priority and that Omar’s calls to the railway ministry had led to the launch of the fruit train.

Lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha, who on Monday flagged off the first parcel train, from Budgam in Kashmir to Adarsh Nagar in Delhi, thanked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for the train service.

The train had eight parcel vans, each with a capacity to carry 23 tonnes.

Sinha said the highway was shut because of topographical issues and heavy rain, and claimed the railways had started “a better transport system”.

In a post on X, Sinha’s office said the new freight train would “significantly reduce transit time & increase income opportunities for thousands of farmers & boost agricultural economy of the region”.

Railway officials said the second fruit train, scheduled for Tuesday, was fully booked as well.

National Conference MLA Bashir Veeri echoed the fruit growers’ conspiracy theory and blamed Sinha’s administration.

“Deliberate design to ruin our economy…. 2 km of road stretches are not being repaired with the urgency,” he posted on X.

The Valley produced 26.46 lakh tonnes of fruits, mostly apples, in the financial year 2024-25.