Afghan fresh fruits’ supply via Attari hit

Tribune News Service

Amritsar, September 2

The import of fresh fruits from Afghanistan through the Attari integrated check post (ICP) has been completely stalled for the past two weeks due to the blocking of the Torkham-Islamabad highway by agitators.

Torkham is a town in Khyber district of Pakistan. It is connected to Attari thorugh a highway passing through Peshawar, Islamabad and Lahore. Sources in the Land Port Authority of India (LPAI) said the ICP did not receive any consignment of fresh fruits for the past around two weeks, while dry fruit supplies continued to arrive from Afghanistan.

Talking over the phone, Saddam, a clear housing agent from Afghanistan, said two communities having a disagreement over some issues had blocked the highway around 30-40 km from the Torkham border crossing on the Pakistan side. The border crossing was, however, totally operational. Once the blockade was lifted, the transportation of cargo would resume, he added. Dry fruit supply from the Chaman border crossing, however, continued to arrive via the ICP-Attari.

Rajdeep Singh Uppal, president of the Confederation of International Chamber of Commerce, said the Indian importers had not received any fresh fruit supplies from Afghanistan through the ICP-Attari for the past two weeks.

During winters, India receives tonnes of fresh fruits, including grapes, apple, cherry, apricot, melon etc. from Afghanistan. The import of perishable commodities starts from August and continues till December.