Each time the Jammu–Srinagar Highway closes, Kashmir holds its breath. The valley’s lifeline for apples, fuel, and food collapses with every rain, leaving behind waste, waiting, and stranded lives, its lifeline turned vulnerable, reports Syed Shadab Ali Gillani
By late September, the air in Qazigund carried the smell of rot. Trucks stood motionless on both sides of the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway, their tarpaulin sheets sagging under relentless rain. Inside one of them, Nasir from Kulgam watched helplessly as the red of his apple boxes faded. His year’s labour was turning to waste in the valley’s damp air.
His sister was to be married in November. But with the road blocked, his apples decayed and his hopes withered with them. “First, the unpredictable weather collapsed our hopes; later, the constant closure of the highway,” Nasir said, his eyes glistening.
Beside him, his sister, who had helped him harvest the fruit and dreamed of being a bride this year, spoke in a low voice, surrounded by despair. “My family has been waiting to marry me off for two years, but maybe God has other plans. This year, the profits are nowhere to be found, and the losses are high. I will try to help my family; we are in a mess right now.”
Highway of Uncertainty
The National Highway, recently reopened for one-way traffic, had remained closed for almost a month earlier this year due to heavy rains, mudslides, and landslides. The repeated shutdowns left thousands of people stranded and anxious, most of them fruit growers whose livelihoods depend on a steady flow of trucks.
The 270-km Jammu–Srinagar National Highway was shut for 20 consecutive days at several intervals between August and September after continuous rainfall. The 325-km Lakhunpur–Srinagar (NH-44) took Rs 17,000 crore for upgrade in recent years. “This has become a routine in 2025,” said one grower. “We witnessed frequent closures.”
The Agony
For truck drivers stranded on the Highway, time itself had begun to rot along with their cargo. Many said they were running out of food, fuel, and hope.
“We left Srinagar with goods bound for Davangere, near Bengaluru. We have been here for four days now. The transporter keeps calling, saying the goods will get spoiled. What can we do? We are stuck,” said one driver, his voice weary from waiting.
Although the highway was later opened for one-way traffic, several drivers said it was already too late. “We were stuck for days without proper food or a place to rest. We are from other states; there is no one here to speak for us,” said another driver from Madhya Pradesh.
One driver said the entire load in his truck had rotted. When he called the trader waiting for the consignment, he was told simply to dispose of the goods.
A Stagnant Road
The Highway, the only all-weather route connecting Kashmir to the rest of India, is often crippled by landslides, shooting stones, and repair work. Each closure leaves travellers and transporters stranded for days in harsh conditions.
Truckers have repeatedly appealed to the authorities to regulate traffic better and provide essential amenities at halting points.“We understand that weather and road work can cause delays, but at least the authorities should ensure that drivers have food, water, and a place to stay,” said a driver stranded near Qazigund. “It is terrible how nobody talks about us.”
The impact of the closures has rippled far beyond the highway. Ayaan, a shop owner from Srinagar, said he had suffered losses worth crores.“My goods worth rs 10 lakh were stuck on the highway for weeks. Once they reached me, some were broken, some spoilt, and others damaged,” he said, his voice sinking with despair. “I have no idea how to compensate for these losses. I also lost many customers because I could not provide them with the items I had promised.”
The Cost of Delay
Since late August 2025, heavy rainfall and flash floods have caused repeated shutdowns of the highway, washing away sections of the road and triggering fresh landslides. The timing could not have been worse. Kashmir’s apple harvest season, locally called harud, was underway. The region produces nearly 70 to 80 per cent of India’s apples, and each day of closure meant hundreds of trucks standing still with perishable fruit inside.
According to local reports, more than 4,000 trucks carrying apples were stranded for days, with losses running into thousands of crore of rupees. The blockade also disrupted supplies to Kashmir, pushing up the prices of daily essentials.
“The cost of vegetables and fruits has increased,” said a resident from Anantnag. “The authorities need to understand that the highway is the backbone of Kashmir’s economy. They should look for alternatives or at least speed up the renovation process.”
In Sopore, a major apple-growing area, despair had settled like mist. “We are watching in front of our eyes sometimes years of work spoiled in stranded trucks, while our livelihoods tremble on the brink,” said another grower.
Between August and early October 2025, the Highway was either fully or partially closed for 21 days. Some sections were repeatedly damaged by rain, landslides, or sinking soil. The recurring shutdowns stalled the apple harvest and delayed shipments through three consecutive intervals, some lasting nearly three weeks.
The Loss
As the highway remained blocked, the price of apple boxes plunged by 40 per cent. Farmers were left with rotting fruit they could not sell, their incomes collapsing along with the region’s economic stability. Many growers and traders staged protests, demanding compensation and an inquiry into the crisis. Local governments were drawn into the dispute as hundreds of families sank into debt. Industries linked to the fruit trade, packaging, transport, and labour, also reported mounting costs and lost wages.
The prolonged shutdown disrupted the supply of essential goods, creating shortages and sharp price rises in daily commodities. Fruit growers are expected to lose more than Rs 1000 crore because of the closure, with indirect damages believed to be even higher. Some estimates value the spoiled apples alone at nearly one thousand two hundred crore rupees.
A Crisis beyond Apples
Last month, Kashmir faced a severe petrol shortage caused by the continued closure of the Highway, the region’s only supply route for fuel. Heavy vehicles, including oil tankers, were barred from travelling for almost three weeks after landslides and flooding damaged the road. Petrol stations across Srinagar and South Kashmir ran dry, and the scarcity lasted for nearly two weeks. Officials said that only one-fifth of the usual supply reached the valley, forcing rationing and long queues.
The shortage led to panic buying and soaring prices. As transport slowed, costs for vegetables, milk, and poultry rose sharply. Local businesses and transporters struggled, and many vehicles were left idle for days.
The highway has yet to be fully repaired in severely damaged stretches such as Tharad in Udhampur. Light motor vehicles are currently permitted to move in one direction from Srinagar to Jammu, while heavy trucks must follow strict movement schedules and police guidance.
The mounting losses, repeated shutdowns, and incomplete repairs have pushed the valley’s fruit trade into deep crisis, choking supply chains and threatening an entire season’s output.
What the Authorities Say
Since January 2024, the Highway has been closed or severely disrupted at least six times, often for several days at a stretch, due to heavy rain, flash floods, and landslides. The closures were particularly severe between August and October 2025, when some continuous shutdowns lasted nine, thirteen, or even twenty days.
“The overall budget sanctioned for the project is substantial,” Shubham, Project Director of PIU Ramban, National Highways Authority of India, who oversees the Udhampur–Qazigund stretch, explained. “Each section is taken up under a specific ward, which includes both construction and maintenance for a period of five years. So, everything, from repair to upkeep, falls within that sanctioned cost.”
Speaking about the recent closures, he said, “We set up community kitchens, distributed food with local help, and moved stranded drivers once the road cleared.”
When asked whether any formal provision exists for truckers caught in similar crises in the future, the officer said it is the responsibility of the Jammu and Kashmir administration. He said the damaged portion is rectified and the highway is ready for two-way traffic. “We have already requested the Divisional Commissioner to start two-way traffic. Highway is capable of two-way traffic of HMVs as well as LMVs.”
The Fragile Lifeline
Stretching between Jammu and Srinagar, the Highway is not merely a road; it is the fragile artery of Jammu and Kashmir. Cutting through some perilous mountain terrain, particularly in the Ramban-Banihal stretch, it winds through narrow corridors where the land is in constant struggle with gravity. Landslides, shooting stones, floods, and snow routinely bring it to a standstill. When this highway closes, the Valley stands isolated from the rest of the country. Every necessity, from vegetables and fruits to fuel, medicines, and building materials, depends on this single route.
The Ramban-Banihal section remains its weakest link. Despite years of widening, tunnelling, and investment, the loose soil and unstable slopes keep collapsing under the weight of weather and time. Each monsoon and winter carries a familiar headline: “NH-44 Closed Due To Landslide.”
“Tunnels like T-5 and Banihal–Qazigund have provided relief,” said Navaid Runyal, an electrical engineer from Marnal Maligam Pogal in Ramban. “But the real solution lies in scientific slope management, proper drainage, and continuous geological monitoring. This highway requires not just construction, but care—constant, precise, and planned.”
He paused, glancing at the road that wound through the mountains below his village. “NH-44 is not merely asphalt and stone,” he continued. “It is the road of livelihoods, of connections, of hope. When it closes, the Valley holds its breath. And when it opens, life moves again with the sound of engines, prayers, and renewed patience.”
Down in the orchards, as Nasir watches his harvest of apples turn brown in wooden crates, he wonders if the next season will be any different, or if Kashmir’s lifeline will once again choke at the height of its promise.
