Srinagar: Apple growers in south Kashmir are staring at huge losses this season after floods and highway closures hit the harvest.
Large quantities of apples have been left to rot in orchards and along highways, with losses estimated between Rs 600 and 700 crore.
The trouble began with days of heavy rain that triggered flash floods across several districts, sweeping through orchards right in the middle of harvest.
Many trees were damaged, fruit fell before its time, and a big part of the crop was washed away.
The apples that survived were of poorer quality, which added to the distress of growers who depend on this single source of income every year.
As if that was not enough, the Srinagar–Jammu highway, the only all-weather road link between Kashmir and the rest of India, remained shut for nearly 12 days due to landslides, cloudbursts, and mudslides.
Hundreds of trucks loaded with apples were stranded, and much of the fruit spoiled before it could reach markets.
Later, to ease the crisis, authorities flagged off a special parcel train from Budgam to major markets in north India.
The service, carrying apple boxes, was meant to give farmers an alternative after the highway closures left them cut off.
The devastation in photos…
A pair of muddy shoes lies in an apple orchard. Growers wear long boots to harvest apples after floodwaters left the fields covered in thick mud. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A grower sorts muddy apples in his orchard after floods hit the region. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A grower walks through a muddy apple orchard after floodwaters swept across the area in Pulwama. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A non-local labourer carries a bucket of apples while walking through a muddy orchard in Pulwama. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
The mud-covered feet of a farmer as harvesting continues after floodwaters receded in Pulwama. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A mud-covered apple hangs from a tree after floods swept through orchards in Pulwama, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A farmer stands on a tree while harvesting apples in an orchard in Pulwama, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A man walks inside a temporary apple packing store as rotten apples lie on the ground in Pulwama, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
Floodwaters pass through an apple orchard in Pulwama, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
Growers pack apples into cardboard boxes in Pulwama, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A farmer packs apples into a cardboard box before sending it to the apple market in Pulwama, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A worker carries an apple box while loading a truck at an apple mandi in Shopian, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
A view of a fruit mandi in Shopian, Kashmir. [FPK Photo/Umar Farooq]
