Srinagar, November 10
The cross-LoC trade, which started more as a political goodwill measure than a dynamic economical venture, faces a problem.
Some formidable practical difficulties have forced the traders to temporarily suspend the business, dampening the high hopes amidst which it had begun on October 21.
The fruit growers and traders said they would not send their consignments across the Line of Control on Tuesday as scheduled because they have not received a single penny against their sells.
“We have sent 7,000 boxes of fruits to Muzaffarabad since the trade began and I do not know what has happened to them. What is the market there and at what rate our fruits are being sold there? We do not know anything,” said Bashir Ahmed Beigh of the Kashmir Fruit Buyers’ Association.
Beigh said the most serious issue was the non-payment of money for their produces. Small buyers purchase fruits from us to send across the LoC and their money have been held-up.
The businessmen here has virtually no line of communication with their counterparts in Pak-occupied Kashmir as telephone lines between the two places do not work.
Frequent movements of delegations across the borders are also not possible except, all making a very difficult environment for the success of business.
Traders demanded that they should be allowed proper communication and banking arrangements. They said internet-connectivity is available but it does not have much reach. “How many fruit growers communicate online,” a Sopore-based apple grower asked.
The traders said credit facility is key for the success of
business and it is completely missing in cross-LoC trade.
A fruit trader said they send consignments running into lakhs to dealers in Delhi and Mumbai as they have developed trust over the years. In cross-LoC trade, they do not know who is finally getting their fruits in PoK and selling them.
They said both India and Pak governments should show sincerity in making the cross-LoC trade successful. Kashmir has been witness to many events which later turned out to be political gimmicks, a trader said, stressing that governments should ensure that cross-LoC trade does not end up one as well.
