People in Kashmir face shortage of milk, electricity in winter

Srinagar, Apr 9 (UNI) With the onset of summer, life is limping back to normal in the Kashmir valley where people face a shortage of almost all essential commodities and power cuts during winter.

Life almost had come to halt during the winter when the electricity, milk, vegetable production went down in the minus temperature with the frequent closure of the Srinagar-Jammu national highway, the only road linking the valley with the rest of the country, only adding to the woes.

''Yes we are facing about a 20 per cent shortage of milk during the five winter months from November to April,'' Jammu and Kashmir minister of Consumer Affairs and Public Distribution (CAPD) Taj Mohiuddin said.

He said the Kashmir valley imports most of the essential commodites, including meat, chicken and vegetables.

However, this winter people had to use dried vegetables, fish and pulses because of the frequent closure of the highway due to landslides and shooting stones.

The minister said about 30,000 poultry birds and 5000 sheep and goats are being consumed by the people of Kashmir valley everyday, the highest in the country.

He said hundreds of trucks carrying sheep, goats and chicken are reaching the valley almost every alternate day because of one-way traffic on the Srinagar-Jammu national highway.

''Kashmir is self sufficent in milk production. However, during the winter the production goes down forcing us to import about one lac litres of milk everyday, he added.

When asked about the reaons for fall in the milk production during winter, he said, ''In winter our postures remain under snow due to which our animals do not get enough fodder essential for milk production.'' However, he added that since he was also animal husbandry minister, he has directed his department to find ways how to overcome this problem.

We will educate our farmers about the proper feed which could help increase milk production even during the winter months, he said.

Now with the arrival of summer, some of the vegetables are locally available, though on very higher prices. However, the prices of vegetables being imported has come down slightly against what was during winter when the highway remained closed, Mr Mohiuddin said.

People, in the chilly and dark nights, also faced more than 12 hours power cut daily throughout the winter because the water level in majority rivers goes down, affecting power generation. However, there was complete shut down for about four to seven days in the Kashmir valley after unprecedented snowfall on March 11 damaging service lines and electric poles.

UNI