Successive governments inJammu and Kashmir have consistently overlooked the need to augment capacity forstocking essentials in the landlocked Kashmir Valley, leading to chaos wheneverthe lone usable surface to the outside world, the Jammu-Srinagar highway,closes for a long period.
Recently, followingfrequent closure of the highway for several days at a time struck panic in themarkets in Kashmir as fuel outlets ran dry, cooking gas was short in supply andgrocery stores ran short of edible items.
Apart from the closure ofthe highway, lack of storage capacity to ration stocks including gas, petroleumin Kashmir compounds the problem. A senior administration official saidproposals to augment infrastructural capacities including capacity to stockenough petrol and diesel, commissioning new bottling plants have not been takenup with oil marketing companies, resulting in shortage of supplies when theroad remains closed for days.
He said that for Ladakhregion, every year from June onwards petroleum products and cooking gas aretransported to ensure its availability throughout the year, but for Kashmirvalley there is no contingency plan.
According to a seniorexecutive of a petroleum company, Kashmir has a storage capacity for fuel foronly 21 days which is not sufficient for the heavily dependent valley.
“For last few days, ourrationing depots are empty. We have exhausted all our petroleum supplies,” saidthe executive, adding that though they have requisitioned supplies from otherstates too but inclement weather leading to closure of highway has become themain hurdle.
Similarly, for cookinggas, there is only one bottling and refilling plant managed by HindustanPetroleum Company Limited.
Bharat Petroleum CompanyLimited is getting refill done through a private party with a very limitedcapacity, while as the Indian Oil Company Limited gets supplies from outside.
“We refill around 15000gas cylinders a day, but from last few days we are not receiving any gas supplywhich has resulted in shortage. The other two oil companies in the market aremostly dependent on outside supplies which mean that they don’t have any supplyresulting in acute shortage of cooking gas in Kashmir region,” said anexecutive of HPCL.
The case is not muchdifferent for food stocks like edible oil or biscuits. No Commissioning and Forwarding (CNF) agentsdesignated by the Fast Moving Consumer Goods companies are in the valley. The role of CNFs is to stock up supplies inbulk quantity to ensure its availability through the year. However, accordingto traders, after 1990s when armed insurgency erupted in Kashmir, all the FMCGsshifted their CNFs to Jammu, which complicates the problem when theSrinagar-Jammu road remains closed for a longer period.
“Despite 75 percent ofthe supplies in JK consumed in Kashmir the companies are shying away fromappointing CNFs in Kashmir, in absence of which we are wholly and solely dependon Jammu for supplies,” said Jan Muhammad Koul, state head of FMCG, RetailCommittee, PHDCCI Kashmir chapter. Chairman, Kashmir Economic Alliance,Muhammad Yaseen Khan also flayed the state government for failing to augmentcapacity for stocking essential items in Kashmir.
“Which place on earth inthis age of technology and development will you witness without cooking gas andpetroleum? It is only in Kashmir where government has always maintainedstep-motherly treatment,” Khan said. “Neither the government could give stateall-weather connectivity nor does it have capacities to stock material for eventwo months.”