Tussle continues
While the government is blaming the vested elements within the traders for the price rise in the markets of Kashmir especially in the Srinagar city in this holy month of Ramadan, the traders have blamed the authorities for the price rise. Traders are saying that the price rise is due to the hike in freight charges which have gone up due to the fact that highway remains disrupted for days together and the curbs on the highway has also compounded the problem. The tussle continues and the people of Kashmir are the real sufferers. There is no control over the markets and the disruptions have resulted in more price rise as hundreds of vehicles get stranded with essential commodities on the highway due to the fact that in the past few months, Srinagar-Jammu highway has remained disrupted due to the landslides in the Ramban sector for weeks together.
Recently Governor’s administration held a meeting with the traders of Kashmir with an aim to bring the prices at the level of common man. In this direction Advisor asked the traders association heads to advise their retailers to keep available essentials in the market at the already fixed rates by the government. The traders put forth various demands before the Advisor and sought their redressal. The Advisor assured them that their genuine demands would be looked into. He directed concerned to reconsider prices of certain commodities in consultation with divisional administration after proper market analysis. Further, he informed the participants that IG traffic has already been advised for the resolution of Highway issues.
The price rise continues in the markets of Srinagar and now the mutton sellers have threatened that they will close the shops if the authorities will not allow them to sell the mutton at the higher prices and they are giving the same logic of highway disruption and hike in the freight charges as the reason for such price rise.
