Horticulture Minister takes stock of measures for timely dispatch of fruit to terminal markets
SRINAGAR: To facilitate hassle-free transportation of fruit from Kashmir to other parts of the country, the Government has decided to allow movement of offloaded trucks back to Valley through Mughal road.
The decision was taken at a high level meeting held under the chairmanship of Minister for Horticulture, Mr Abdul Rehman Veeri here today.
The move would facilitate hassle-free movement of trucks to and from Kashmir in view of the heavy traffic on Srinagar-Jammu highway (NH-1), said the Horticulture Minister.
Commissioner Secretary, Agriculture Production, Mohammad Ashraf Bukhari, Commissioner Secretary Transport, Kifayat Razvi, Transport Commissioner, Inspector General of Traffic Police , Managing Director, JKSRTC, Director Horticulture, Kashmir, Director HP&M were among other Senior officers participated in the meeting.
Representatives of Fruit Growers, Traders and Transport Associations also attended the meeting.
Several decisions were taken in the meeting for ensuring hassle-free transportation of the fruit during peak season commencing this month.
The Horticulture Minister instructed the concerned authorities for well-timed completion of required formalities to enable the trucks to ply on Mughal road while returning to the Valley. He asked IG Traffic to restrict checking of fruit laden trucks on highway. Unnecessary checking of trucks is not only time consuming but also creates traffic jams on the highway, Veeri said and stressed that checking points for fruit laden trucks should be minimized.
The Minister said that horticulture is the mainstay of States economy and requisite measures are necessitated for fetching better returns of fruit especially apple produce. He said the demand of trucks would be fulfilled from other States and emphasized that there should not be any delay to arrange truck fleets on reasonable rates during the peak season. The Horticulture Ministry would request Transport Ministries of other States like Punjab, Haryana, UP and Delhi to deploy their truck fleets for dispatching fruit from the State, Mr Veeri said.
The haggling on freight charges and excessive commission from the fruit traders and transporters from outside the State are intolerable. Stern action should be taken against such traders, Horticulture Minister directed the HP&M functionaries and instructed concerned to take up the matter with the AMPC New Delhi. He asserted that fruit supply against such dishonest traders should be stopped forthwith.
The Minister asked the concerned authorities to take up the matter with FCI authorities for unloading the timely food-grain trucks in Valley warehouses and direct them to load fruit boxes in time. He also asked the Transport Department to make periodical review of freight charges of the trucks for convenience of fruit growers and traders of the valley.
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