Railway Minister assures help to cherry growers in J

New Delhi, May 11 (UNI) Railway Minister Lalu Prasad today assured that facilities would soon be put in place for quicker and faster transportation of Kashmir cherry from Amritsar to Mumbai for its marketing.

Mr Prasad gave this assurance to Water Resources Minister Saifuddin Soz, who explained that cherry, being a highly perishable fruit, needed faster transportation to commercial centres to avoid losses to its growers.

Referring to the representations of the Kashmir Fruit Traders Association submitted to him, Prof. Soz said cherry growers in the state were facing great difficulties at Amritsar railhead in transporting the fruit to Mumbai.

The total load of cherries from May 20 to July 15 this year would be around 50 metric rpt metric tonnes in different trains, he said.

Prof. Soz informed the Railway Minister that only one train (No.

2926) is suitable for loading and unloading of cherries and their transportaion from Amritsar to Mumbai.

He urged Mr Prasad to allow the total quantity of 50 MTs of cherries to be transported through Amritsar-Mumbai Express (2926).

He also made a strong case for attaching an additional AC van in that train for transporting 22 MTs of the load during May-July.

The Railway Minister, who gave a patient hearing to Prof. Soz, assured that the facility would soon be offered and orders to this effect would be issued.

UNI SKS RL DS1540