Though the Government claims to have resumed normal traffic along the Srinagar-Lakhanpur highway, the official records show a completely different picture with more than 60 per cent decline in actual truck traffic on the road. In fact, when the body of a driver, who succumbed in AIIMS after being injured during an attack on the highway, was buried late last evening, it again created fear psychosis about the security along the highway. Thousands attended his funeral. The passenger vehicles especially Sumo taxis today came up with an unusual mechanism to ferry desperate passengers and avoid the wrath of the protestors. The taxis with Kashmir number plates take their passengers till Rambhan on Srinagar-Jammu national highway where they swap them with Kashmir bound passengers arriving in taxis with Jammu number plates. Though the army is still out patrolling the highway, the psychological impact of the attacks is more profound than the actual situation along this 390 kilometre road link.Here are the details of the stocks, decrease in truck traffic from either side of the highway and depleting stocks of medicine.``There is cotton shortage especially in Bones and Joints hospital here. We had to take loan from Army's 92 base hospital,'' said Medical Superintendent, SMHS, Dr Waseem Qureshi. ``Cotton stockist for Srinagar hospitals is Jammu based that is why there is so much of a problem. Now we have issued emergency tenders''.Medical Superintendent, Kashmir's main maternity hospital Lal Ded Dr Latief Chisti told the Indian Express that there is a shortage of anesthetic agents and dressing material. ``The problem is compounded by the fact that these products are not available in open market,'' he said.SMHS Medical Superintendent Dr Wasim Qureshi said that for the last 20 days they have received only two trucks of supplies. ``It can hardly last for next three weeks,'' Qureshi said. ``Generally, we have stocks for two months available. For X-ray films, we had to send our own drivers to get it from Chandigarh and some stocks were airlifted too''. He said they have stocks of Life saving drugs for four weeks while the normal stock strength is for two months. The records with Fruit Growers show that 2148 trucks had taken fruit to Azadpur mandi and other terminal mandis across country between August 1 to August 18 last year. This year, only 890 truck-loads of fruit have managed to leave Kashmir. The Fruit Growers say that blockade till August 15 has severely hit the fruit industry. ``By August 15, we would already send 25 per cent of our produce every year. This year we have been able to send just 5 per cent of our produce to the markets,'' said Ghulam Rasool Bhat, President Fruit Growers and Dealers Association Kashmir. ``The Fruit ripening season starts from last week of July for the early varieties. The varieties that were hit are Bagogosha (Pear) which forms 7 to 8 per cent of our total production. Then Condition, Saharanpuri, Razakwari, Kesri varieties are all hit. These are extremely perishable varieties and once they could not reach the markets in time, it all rotted''. According to Consumer Affairs department, 2759 trucks, carrying food stocks came to Kashmir between July, 30 to August 18. This includes 948 truck-loads of rice, 257 trucks carrying poultry, 351 truck-loads of sheep, 63 trucks carrying flour, nine trucks of mustard oil, five trucks of Sugar, 41 truck-loads of wheat, six trucks carrying milk, 186 trucks carrying LPG, 272 Patrol tankers, 405 diesel tankers and 216 tankers carrying kerosene. The official records, however, reveal that the daily arrival of trucks carrying food stocks during the same period last year was 700-800 trucks a day. According to the official figures, 515 trucks have arrived in Kashmir yesterday alone which is encouraging.As it is the peak season for dumping of essential commodities for the border areas, there is a worry. The government needs 80,000 quintals of rice but the officials of the Consumer Affairs department say that only 40 percent of stocks have been dumped. Consumer Affairs department is worried about the sugar stocks as only five truck loads of sugar have arrived in Kashmir during past 18 days. According to official records, the Consumer Affairs department and Food Corporation of India (FCI) have 201873 quintals in their godowns which will suffice for 21 days, wheat stocks are 109240 quintals which will suffice for one and a half months. The officials say that the sugar stocks are especially worrying with 6594 quintals. The officials say that the bumper stocks are depleting.``In normal times, we have 50 to 60 per cent bumper stocks. This time we had to pull stocks from those bumper stocks,'' he said.
