Kupwara: Scores of fruit growers and merchants Monday raised slogans in Handwara Fruit Mandi against the halting of fruit-laden trucks along the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway. They said that the halting of fruit-laden trucks on the highway had left them facing losses due to which they were going through mental trauma.
“We are unable to figure out why fruit-laden vehicles are being unnecessarily stopped for several days at Banihal. We already suffered heavy losses during the last several years in natural calamities and the COVID-19 pandemic. The unnecessary stopping of fruit-laden trucks is adding to our miseries,” President of Fruit Mandi Handwara Muhammad Amin told Greater Kashmir.
“We had high hopes that the loss of previous years would be compensated this year but all our hopes have been dashed. We have suffered huge losses yet authorities are unmoved,” he said. The protesters demanded smooth transportation of fruit-laden trucks along the highway to thwart any further losses.