Srinagar: People associated with mutton and fruit business are suffering huge losses due to callous attitude of authorities. They are alleging that their goods laden trucks are being halted for weeks without any reason on Srinagar-Jammu highway.

New Kashmir Fruit Association Mandi Parimpora has appealed the traders to shut their business establishments from April 29 on Monday. They called for an indefinite shutdown from Monday, April 29 against the stopping of fruit and vegetable-laden vehicles on Srinagar-Jammu highway for several days.

They said that during the shutdown all the gates of the Mandi will remain closed.

“Fruits and vegetables are perishable items. How can authorities mostly people from traffic department be so callous and stop trucks without any reason. The sole motive of these elements is to cripple the economy of Kashmir,” said a businessman.

Similarly people associated with mutton business threatened to go for an indefinite strike if trucks laden with live stock are stopped for weeks. They alleged that trucks with live stock (sheep and goats) coming from Delhi, Ambala, Amritsar and Jaipur towards Kashmir are being halted for weeks at Jakhani Chowk Udhampur.

“Due to stoppage of trucks, we suffer losses in lakhs as dozens of sheep and goats die. When we object to this unreasonable halting of trucks, the traffic men not only snatch the documents of the vehicles but also assault the drivers and conductors. This is injustice and we fail to understand why they are doing this,” a mutton dealer Muhammad Salim Mir told news agency CNS.

Scores of mutton dealers staged protest at Press Enclave Srinagar and alleged that authorities at Udhampur are keen to cripple the mutton business in Kashmir.