Fruit growers from southern Kashmir held a protest demonstration on Thursday at the press enclave here against the highway ban on Wednesdays and Sunday.
Scores of fruit growers assembled here and demanded the revocation of highway ban and the construction of Mughal Road as alternative highway, besides seeking compensation for the losses they suffered due to untimely snowfall in November last year. General secretary of Jammu and Kashmir Kissan Tehreek, Ghulam Nabi Malik said, “The highway lockdown has resulted in fear among farmers, as they are suffering loss worth crores. Around 10 lakh fruit boxes are lying in the mandis.”
The protesters also demanded the compensation for the loss due to snowfall in November 2018 which damaged the apple crop.
“One more announcement was made by the government to provide an income support to small and marginal farmers, under the Pradhan Mantra Kissan Samman Nidhi scheme but there is a huge number of farmers who has not received the benefits so far,” he said.
