SRINAGAR: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, the continued closure of the Srinagar-Jammu highway for the sixth straight day has not only crippled the Valley’s economy but also plunged ordinary Kashmiris into a humanitarian crisis, with shortages of essential commodities including food, medicines, and children’s food.
According to Kashmir Media Service, the strategic highway, the only surface link connecting the Kashmir Valley with the outside world, has remained shut due to massive landslides triggered by incessant rainfall. The closure has virtually severed the Valley from the rest of the world, disrupting supplies and choking trade.
Adding to the misery, traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu highway once again came to a grinding halt on Saturday night after fresh landslide activity was reported near Bali Nallah, around 10 kilometers from Udhampur town. Eyewitnesses said debris from the hillside began sliding gradually toward the road around 4 pm, forcing police to immediately suspend vehicular movement and evacuate nearby shops and pedestrians. Residents of the affected area were also shifted to safer locations as a precautionary measure.
For the sixth consecutive day, normal traffic could not resume. Police have issued an advisory announcing a complete shutdown of traffic between Udhampur and Chenani to facilitate restoration work. Meanwhile, a separate landslide in the Kishtwari Pather area also disrupted traffic.
Fruit traders and growers are sounding alarm bells, warning that perishable produce worth millions is at risk of rotting away during the peak harvest season. Fayaz Ahmad Malik, President of the Fruit Mandi in Sopore, the Valley’s largest wholesale fruit market, said, “Three to four hundred trucks carrying pears and early-season apples are stranded. Delays will lead to catastrophic losses. Horticulture sustains lakhs of families, and the blockade has put their survival at stake.”
Reports from Sopore, Shopian, Pulwama, and other fruit-growing hubs reveal thousands of tons of Bagogosha pears, Red Ghala, and Galamast apples stranded or unharvested, while markets outside the Valley remain inaccessible.
Cloudburst in Indian-Occupied Kashmir; five killed
Meanwhile, at least five people, including a woman and children, were killed after a cloudburst triggered flooding and landslides in a village of Indian-occupied Kashmir.
According to the Indian media reports, the victims included children aged between five and thirteen years. Police officials confirmed that the cloudburst occurred in the Natna area, bringing sudden flash floods that swept through homes and farmland.
Authorities recovered the bodies of four people from the floodwaters, while one person remains missing. A large-scale search and rescue operation is underway to assist the affected families and locate the missing victim.
Just a day earlier, a similar incident struck the Rajgarh district of Indian-Occupied Kashmir, where another cloudburst claimed the lives of four people.The Indian Meteorological Department has warned that heavy rains in the region are likely to continue until September 2, raising fears of more landslides and flash floods in vulnerable mountain areas.
