With highway shut, Mughal Road emerges Kashmir’s horticulture lifeline

Rajouri, Sep 16: With the Jammu–Srinagar highway shut to heavy vehicles for over weeks together, authorities have turned to the Mughal Road to move essentials and rescue fruit-laden trucks, shifting more than 2,200 in the past 24 hours.

“In the last 24 hours alone, over 2,200 fruit-laden trucks have been moved towards Jammu via Mughal Road,” Divisional Commissioner Kashmir confirmed during his visit to the route.

SP Traffic (Jammu Rural), Girdhari Lal Sharma, also assured that every possible effort was being made to prioritise the movement of essential supplies and horticultural produce.

“Our focus remains on facilitating HMVs carrying essentials to Kashmir and now fruits from Kashmir towards Jammu and other parts of the country,” Sharma said.

With no immediate relief announced by the National Highways Authority of India regarding the restoration of heavy traffic on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway, officials and traders are increasingly relying on the Mughal Road to sustain both the valley’s economy and its supply chain.

The prolonged disruption of HMV traffic on the main highway has choked normal life in Kashmir, triggering shortages of essential commodities.

With the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway remaining partially closed for more than two weeks due to massive damage near Tharad in Udhampur, the Mughal Road, after ensuring the supply of essentials to the valley is now facilitating the rescue of fruit-laden trucks.

However, authorities have restored one-way traffic for light motor vehicles.

Officials said the 90-kilometre Mughal Road, which connects Poonch and Rajouri to Shopian in south Kashmir, played a crucial role in maintaining a limited supply chain of essential goods, including petroleum products, to the valley.

Although the number of vehicles moving via this route has been smaller compared to routine highway traffic, the alternative corridor has helped stabilise supplies to some extent.