As per the data of the Horticulture Department, there has been a three-fold rise in fruit consignments to various markets outside the state this month. Fruit growers in Kashmir have been forced to rush their produce to various markets across the country after the closure of local markets and cold storage facilities owing to the ongoing unrest. According to officials of the Department of Horticulture (Planning and Marketing), the closure of local mandis and cold storage facilities, coupled with non-availability of labour, have forced the fruit growers to harvest and…
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Business
City markets re-open in evening
City markets re-opened today evening after 11 days, during the relaxation period announced by joint resistance leadership. As the clock ticked to 6’ O’ Clock, shopkeepers upped the shutters of shops and customers started making a beeline. The last time, city markets remained open on September 12, during the relaxation period. It was a day before Eid-ul-Adha. The protest calendar issued from September 17 to 22 had urged people to observe complete shutdown, without any relaxation. Various shopkeepers had arrived around 2 pm today and could be seen cleaning the…
Read MoreProtest Hits Kashmiris Hard, State Tourism Industry Suffers Rs 3000 crore loss
Tourism sector in Kashmir has suffered a loss of around Rs 3,000 crore as the 77-day ongoing unrest in the valley resulted in sharp decline of tourists. According to preliminary estimates, tourism department officials said the key sector of state’s economy has suffered a loss of around Rs 3,000 crore due to the unrest which broke out on July 9 following the killing of Hizbul Mujahideen commander Burhan Wani in an encounter with security forces a day earlier. “The tourism destinations and hotels both in private and government sector have…
Read MoreSign of normalcy, Govt showroom opens in ‘Caged’ Lal Chowk
JK Owned Corporations directed to throw open outlets or ‘Face Action’ On Friday, Kashmir Handicrafts Corporation opened its showroom in Srinagar’s commercial hub Lal Chowk after directions from the state authorities to government-owned corporations to open their outlets and go back to business in the summer capital amid restrictions and resistance camp-backed shutdown. A senior official in the office of Divisional Commissioner Kashmir said the State authorities recently issued strict directions to J&K Handicrafts (Sales and Export) Corporation, J&K Handloom Development Corporation, JKI and other government-owned business establishments to start…
Read More‘Prohibitive’ fares hamper fruit export from Kashmir
The apple growers/suppliers in Kashmir are presently a worried lot. Reason, the exorbitant transportation cost amid ongoing unrest in Kashmir is proving prohibitive for sending fruit to outside markets. According to the growers/suppliers the number of trucks in the wake of ongoing crisis in Kashmir has decreased sending the transportation costs sky high. “The truck fare from Srinagar to Delhi which was in the range of Rs 60 – Rs 70 per box of apple during last year, has surged to Rs 120,” Bashir Ahmad Bashir, President Parimpora Fruit Mandi…
Read MoreHarvesting Time: Demand for local labourers grows in Kashmir hinterland
With non-local labourers nowhere around due to the ongoing unrest in Kashmir, local labour is in large demand in the current harvest season in this central Kashmir’s district. The harvesting season in the Valley is presently on its peak. The shortage of non-local labour in the market has increased the demand for the local manual workers, the farmers here said. The ongoing unrest in the Valley marked by continued shutdowns, government-imposed restrictions and curfews has shooed away from the Valley the outside labourers constituting a significant portion of the labour…
Read MoreShortage of labourers hit dev projects in Valley, Jehangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover to miss June 2017 deadline
The ongoing unrest has affected the developmental projects in Kashmir especially Jahangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover. The flyover may miss the June 2017 deadline as its construction has been stopped. The work on some vital projects handled by Economic Reconstruction Agency (ERA) and financed by Asian Development Bank (ADB) including Jahangir Chowk-Rambagh flyover, construction of Mehjoor Nagar-Jawahar Nagar Bridge, construction of surface water drainage system in Athwajan, water pipeline Doodhganga, water drainage system Rawalpora and other projects are on hold due to the continuous shutdown and strict restrictions across Valley. Director Economic…
Read MoreDal vegetables suffice Srinagar’s demand
At the break of dawn, there is a hustle in the interiors of Dal Lake as scores of boats carrying vegetables gather at a point in the water body known as Srinagar’s ‘Floating Vegetable garden.’ Within hours of appearance of vegetable growers on the scene, the trading of locally grown vegetables begins with wholesalers— who then pass it to vendors for consumption in restriction bound Srinagar and its peripheries. This market, as per vegetable sellers during curfew, restrictions and shutdown has emerged as an important link for them to supply…
Read MoreUnrest lands Valley’s wazas in soup
Abdul Gani, 52, a wazwan chef, has done no business this season. After the unrest started in Kashmir in the second week of July, he started getting calls and 90 per cent of his bookings were cancelled. Like Abdul, a resident of uptown Srinagar, most of the wazas in Kashmir made no money during this wedding season as the weddings were either cancelled or solemnised in a simple manner due to the ongoing unrest. “This season we have done no business. We are only getting calls for cooking at langars…
Read MoreChenani tunnel project hit by prolonged turmoil in Valley
Movement of material, workers disrupted; deadline extended The prolonged unrest in Kashmir has badly affected the completion of the country’s longest road tunnel between Chenani and Nashri on the Jammu-Srinagar national highway. The authorities have extended the deadline to the end of November, but with a rider that the tunnel would be thrown open to traffic only after normalisation of the situation in Kashmir. The unrest has slowed down the movement of material and people to and from Kashmir and thus, the most awaited 9.2-km-long Chenani-Nashri tunnel may take some…
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