Flower growers urge Lahaul DC for transport facility

HRTC has suspended bus service due to pandemic

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Arranging private vehicles to transport flowers to distant markets is a costly affair. So, we are completely dependent on HRTC buses for transportation. — Surender Kumar, floriculturist

Dipender Manta

Tribune News Service

Mandi, July 25

Floriculturists of the Patan valley in Lahaul and Spiti district have urged the Deputy Commissioner to provide facilities to transport their produce to distant markets. The early variety of flowers, known as Asiatic lily bulbs, is ready in the valley for marketing but the growers do not have any facility to transport their produce to the markets in time.

They say that the flowers are in demand mostly in Delhi, where these fetch good prices every year. However, last year, they suffered huge losses due to the pandemic.

Pritam Singh, a floriculturist of Fuda village in Jahlma panchayat in Lahaul and Spiti, says, “Generally, the farmers of the region transport their flowers in HRTC buses to Delhi from the Patan valley but this year, we are facing an acute shortage of transport facilities. Due to the pandemic, the HRTC has not resumed the bus service from Jahlma to Recongpeo”.

“If the HRTC resumes its service, we will be able to transport our produce to Manali, from where we can take another bus for Delhi,” he said.

Another floriculturist Surender Kumar says, “To transport flowers in private vehicles to distant markets is a costly affair. So, we are completely dependent on HRTC buses for transportation”.

“We have apprised Lahaul Deputy Commissioner (DC) Neeraj Kumar of our problem and urged him to do the needful in time. Otherwise, our flowers will get damaged,” he said.