Parcel train with Kashmiri apples flagged off to Delhi; mandis protest Srinagar-Jammu highway closure

SRINAGAR: Jammu and Kashmir lieutenant governor Manoj Sinha flagged off the first dedicated parcel train from Budgam to New Delhi Monday, calling it the start of “a new era of trade and business for apple growers and traders of the Valley”.

While welcoming the launch of the parcel train, fruit mandis across Kashmir observed a complete shutdown in protest against the govt’s failure to open the Srinagar-Jammu highway, damaged between Nashri and Udhampur after heavy rain on Aug 26–27.