Blocked Roads a Pain for Himachal Growers; Dump Apples in Rivulets

SHIMLA: Unusually heavy monsoon rains triggered massive landslides and blocked roads, largely in interior areas, have hampered the transportation of apples from Himachal Pradesh, forcing growers to dump the crop in rivulets.

"Hundreds of trucks carrying apples have been stranded in various stretches in the upper Shimla region, especially in Jubbal, Rohru, Kotkhai, Chopal areas due to landslides for nearly a fortnight," a prominent fruit grower said on Sunday. "The condition of roads is so bad that truckers are refusing to ply their vehicles," he added. Others say the inclement weather and transportation problems have led to the rotting of apples. "Apples are being dumped in rivulets as they have started perishing," said Deepak Manta, a grower from Rohru.

Public Works Department (PWD) Minister Vikramaditya Singh said heavy rain has damaged roads and bridges. Last week, National Highways Authority of India (NHAI) Regional Officer, Abdul Basit, called on Governor Shiv Pratap Shukla here and presented the Flood Damage Report to him.

A maximum portion of national highways have been damaged in the recent floods triggered by unprecedented rains. He said the Kiratpur-Manali and Kalka-Shimla National Highways suffered a huge loss and the maintenance and repair work was undertaken on war footing to restore them.

Vikramaditya Singh, on July 20, met Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari in Delhi and apprised him about the devastation caused by incessant rains and cloudbursts to the national highways across the state. He urged allocation of funds for estimates of damaged roads and bridges submitted to the NHAI.

As per the state Emergency Operations Centre, the PWD suffered a loss of Rs 1,909 crore across the state. A total of 72 landslide incidents and 52 flash floods were reported in the state from June 24 to July 29. Besides Shimla, the condition is reported to be poor in other apple-growing areas in Mandi, Kullu, and Chamba districts. Attacking the Congress government, BJP leader and IT Cell head Amit Malviya tweeted a video of the dumping, saying: "Apple growers in Shimla are forced to drain their produce in a rivulet because Congress government in Himachal has failed to help farmers reach fruits to market in time.

"On the one hand Rahul Gandhi sheds tears for farmers, on the other, Congress state Govts are a disaster, when it comes to assisting farmers. This is why fruits and vegetables are expensive in the market," he added. (IANS)

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