Rotting Apples, Broken Roads: Farmers Left Stranded as Restoration Drags
Theog, Sept 6 – Apple season has turned into a nightmare for growers in Theog as massive traffic jams and broken roads have left fruit-laden trucks stuck for hours, while apples rot in orchards and on vehicles.
The tailbacks stretched from Sainj to Chaila after a landslide near Parala market, choking movement of hundreds of trucks.
With no electricity in the belt, grading and packing houses are shut.
In villages like Chopal, Shantha, Deot, Pabaas, Kenchi-Shilgrahan, Lastadhar, Maroag, Maumvi, Nerwa, Guma-Baghi and Ratnari, broken link roads have cut off farmers, multiplying their misery.
On the Chaila–Kenchi stretch, vehicles packed with apples are trapped in a never-ending jam, while PWD’s slow pace of restoration has left tempers running high.
Farmers allege there are not enough JCBs to clear the debris, and contractors are unwilling to push harder, citing pending bills with the department.
For apple growers already reeling under erratic weather and price crashes, this bottleneck is the last straw.
“Roads have become a bigger problem than pests this season,” one angry farmer quipped, watching his hard-earned crop rot on the roadside.
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