Srinagar, Sep 09 (KNO): <\/b>The prolonged closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has left Kashmir\u2019s markets struggling, with traders reporting massive losses and shortages of essential commodities.<\/p>\n
They say, from \u201ca sewing needle to a helicopter,\u201d almost everything in Kashmir comes from outside. With the highway closed for over 15 days now, not just farmers but traders too are reeling under the impact, as supplies dry up and markets face an unprecedented crisis.<\/p>\n
Yaseen Khan, President of Kashmir Traders and Manufacturers Federation (KTMF), told the news agency\u2014Kashmir News Observer (KNO), that business has \u201ctotally collapsed\u201d due to the shutdown. \u201cEssential supplies are running short, some shops have closed, and though exact estimates can\u2019t be made, heavy losses are visible,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He added that almost every sector is affected as Kashmir depends on outside supplies, ranging from rice and oil to petroleum products and electronics.<\/p>\n
Tariq Ghani, President of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry Kashmir (CCIK), said the losses run into crores. \u201cNot just one trader, but everyone is hit badly as stocks have exhausted. Shortage is rising because of non-availability of products,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
He also questioned why essential goods are not being brought in by train. \u201cIf train services have stated, why can\u2019t supplies arrive through rail as well? Rates of essentials are already skyrocketing,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Mohammad Saleem, Vice President of the Lal Chowk Traders Association, said many shopkeepers are facing acute shortages, while those with leftover stock are resorting to price hikes.<\/p>\n
He added that the recent GST hike has further compounded their losses, leaving traders under immense strain.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, traffic authorities said the Mughal Road and Sinthan road are open as per advisory, but NH-44 continues to remain closed.<\/p>\n
The Doda-Kishtwar road (NH-244) is also shut due to a landslide at Rankha Shed near Nasib Nagar, while the Srinagar-Sonamarg-Gumri (SSG) road is blocked at Zojila. Restoration work is underway, and officials have urged people not to travel until the highways are fully restored\u2014(KNO)<\/b><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar, Sep 09 (KNO): The prolonged closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway has left Kashmir\u2019s markets struggling, with traders reporting massive losses and shortages of essential commodities. They say, from \u201ca sewing needle to a helicopter,\u201d almost everything in Kashmir comes from outside. With the highway closed for over 15 days now, not just farmers […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":399,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jnews-multi-image_gallery":[],"jnews_single_post":{"format":"standard","override":[{"template":"1","parallax":"1","fullscreen":"1","layout":"no-sidebar-narrow","sidebar":"default-sidebar","second_sidebar":"default-sidebar","sticky_sidebar":"1","share_position":"top","share_float_style":"share-monocrhome","show_share_counter":"1","show_featured":"1","show_post_meta":"1","show_post_author":"1","show_post_date":"1","post_date_format":"default","post_date_format_custom":"Y\/m\/d","show_post_reading_time":"1","post_reading_time_wpm":"300","post_calculate_word_method":"str_word_count","show_zoom_button":"0","zoom_button_out_step":"2","zoom_button_in_step":"3","show_post_tag":"1","show_prev_next_post":"1","number_popup_post":"1","show_author_box":"1","show_post_related":"1","show_inline_post_related":"0"}],"image_override":[{"single_post_thumbnail_size":"crop-500","single_post_gallery_size":"crop-500"}],"trending_post_position":"meta","trending_post_label":"Trending","sponsored_post_label":"Sponsored by","disable_ad":"0","subtitle":"\u2018Markets running out of stock, essentials turn costlier;\u00a0 GST hike deepens crisis as alternate roads remain un-reliable; ask why essentials can\u2019t reach by train\u2019"},"jnews_primary_category":[],"jnews_social_meta":[],"jnews_override_counter":{"view_counter_number":"0","share_counter_number":"0","like_counter_number":"0","dislike_counter_number":"0"},"footnotes":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-405","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-top-news"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=405"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":406,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/405\/revisions\/406"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/399"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=405"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=405"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kashmirthunder.in\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=405"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}