Road blockades disrupt supply of veggies, farmers face huge losses

Crops are rotting in fields and the prices of most vegetables have skyrocketed as roads are blocked due to prolonged and heavy rainfall. The prices of exotic vegetables like lettuce, broccoli, bell peppers, etc have hit the roof even in Himachal where they are grown. Exotic vegetables from Lahaul were taken by road to Leh and from there these were airlifted to New Delhi for further supply.

“Cauliflower from Lahaul was sold for Rs 200 per kilo in Shimla, as it was sent back to our markets via the Leh-Delhi route,” said Hari Krishan Rathore, a vegetable vendor in New Shimla while explaining the reason behind the steep rise in prices of vegetables. He added that if vegetables did not come to Himachal via the Delhi-Chandigarh route, there practically would be no vegetables in the market as the crop in Himachal had been destroyed due to excessive rain. Tomato was sold for Rs 100 a kilo though its prices were gradually coming down.

The road connectivity between Manali and Lahaul has been restored to facilitate the transportation of vegetables from the tribal district but the prices of the perishable produce are exceptionally high. Last month, when the road connectivity in most parts of Himachal was snapped, the Lahaul and Spiti district administration had arranged for the transportaion of the produce of the farmers, mostly exotic vegetables, to be airlifted from Leh to Delhi.

Bir Singh, a farmer of Lindur village, reported heavy losses. He had cultivated cauliflower on 10 bighas but due to road blockade, his entire crop perished in fields. Like him, many other farmers in the region have faced a similar fate.

Last month, most exotic vegetables like broccoli, lettuce, iceberg, zucchini and lilium flowers from Lahaul were taken by road via the Baralacha La-Sarchu-Leh route and then airlifted from Leh to Delhi. The produce from Lahaul and Spiti, especially peas, broccoli and potato are considered to be of very high quality and fetch very good rates in the national market.

As only a fraction of the vegetable produce was airlifted via Leh, the farmers suffered huge losses due to road closure between Keylong and Manali last month. Deputy Commissioner Kiran Bhadhana said that around 30 tonnes of vegetables were transported via the cargo service from Leh during disruption. She added that farmers were now using the road route through the Atal Tunnel towards Manali and Kullu. The cargo air service was specially arranged to support farmers during this critical time when their produce was at rotting in fields.

Another farmer Pritam Singh of Lahaul said that as the Manali-Leh highway had been reopened, farmers had resumed transporting their produce via Manali and the Atal Tunnel.