Carona Curfew: Over 120 truck drivers stuck in Parimpora Fruit Mandi

Srinagar, May 17 : Amid the ongoing Corona Curfew across Jammu and Kashmir, over 120 truck drivers hailing from different parts of the Country are stuck in Parimpora fruit Mandi here, saying that they are facing hardships in search of getting food stuff from the last over ten days.

Talking to the news agency—Kashmir News Observer (KNO), Ravi Sonipath, a truck driver from Haryana said he along with some truck drivers are stuck here in Parimpora fruit Mandi for the last over ten days as the Mandi has been closed since then.

He said that the tomatoes worth Rupees two lakh were damaged due to the continuous closure of the Mandi, adding that he is not able to return home as he has to get a fare of Rs 17000 from the traders at the Mandi.

Another driver identified as Gurvinder Singh who had reached Mandi with an onion laden truck said that he is also stuck here from the last over 12 days as he has not been able to receive his fare of about 1.5 lac rupees.

“I will be able to get the fare only when the mandi will be opened again,” he said. “We are suffering from many days, as we are not able to manage the food stuff. We are waiting to get our fare so that we can reach our homes,” he said.

Fruit Mandi President, Bashir Ahmed told KNO that the truck drivers are stranded as they are not able to unload the trucks amid the ongoing lockdown. He added that they are being allowed to work till 7 AM only due to which the trucks have not been unloaded properly.

“There are highly perishable items in trucks which got rotten. The administration should give us more time to unload the trucks like other parts of the country,” he said. “We have discussed this matter with Deputy Commissioner (DC) Srinagar Muhammad Aijaz Asad who assured that the matter will be resolved soon,” he said—(KNO)