While the demand for different fruits in Kashmir increases many fold in the month of Ramadhan, however, it is the thirst quenching watermelon that is consumed most by the people for breaking the daily fast.
Despite the supplies getting hit by the closure ofSrinagar-Jammu national highway intermittently, about 230 trucks of watermelonsarrive Kashmir daily since the beginning of Ramadhan.
As per president Fruit Traders Association at ParimporaFruit Mandi, Bashir Ahmad Basheer, 200 trucks laden with watermelons and melonsfrom different states ranging from Punjab to Karnataka arrive at the mandidaily. In addition 20-30 trucks loaded with this fresh fruit arrive at theIqbal Fruit Mandi, Batamaloo.
“Even though this year it is not as hot during Ramadhan as itused to be during last few years but consumption of melons and watermelons hasnot declined,” said Basheer.
As per Basheer each truckload of watermelons carries 9tonnes of fruit which costs anywhere between Rs 4 lakhs to Rs 5 lakhs whichmakes the traders suffer huge losses every time a truck laden with melons isstuck on the national highway.
“Despite all odds we don’t have an option but to continuethe trade even if we are not making any profits. These fruits are so much indemand that we cannot stop their trade. Recently lot of melons rotted due tobeing stuck on highway and we had to throw away a lot of them,” said Basheer.
He says exorbitant transportation cost has added to themiseries of the fruit traders who ensure that people don’t miss out on theirfavourite melons this Ramadhan.
“Bringing these perishables for consumption of people inRamadhan has been a taxing task as we are even asked for bribes by trafficauthorities for plying on the highway. We hope the Mughal Road gets the statusof alternate national highway so that fresh fruit supply to the valley issmooth,” says Basheer.
He says apart from melons, Banana’s are also quite in demandduring Ramadhan as people prefer to eat this high energy fruit at Iftar.
“We manage to get at least 40 trucks of bananas worth Rs 4lakh to Rs 5 lakh each daily. People here are fond of bananas especially due toits taste and nutritional value,” says Basheer.
He says different varieties of grapes in almost 8 to 10truckloads also arrives at the mandi daily costing almost Rs 5 lakhs per truck.
“Grapes are a very delicate item and if at all it gets stuckon the highway, the chances of receiving usable chunk of grapes is very less.Priced between Rs 70 to Rs 140 per kilogram, popularity of grapes has increasedwith each passing year,” says Basheer. Kiwis, Mango from UP and Maharashtra are also among popular fruitsduring Ramadhan. “Now a days we get at least half a dozen varieties of mangofrom both UP and Maharashtra. Some high end fruit shops are also makingavailable Alphonso variety of mangoes which is a rare variety from Konkan areaof Maharashtra,” says Basheer. Juicy papayas are also a hot buy thisRamadhan.