Himachal apple growers struggle amid washed-out roads; transportation costs skyrocket

Indian Express

19 hours ago

Naresh Sharma, a small-time apple grower in the Shimla district of Himachal Pradesh, usually takes his crop to the Parala mandi, located 7–8 kilometres from his village. Usually, transporting a single carton of apples from Kiar under the Theog subdivision costs him around Rs 50.
This year, however, the cost has skyrocketed to Rs 200 per carton.
Reason: An over-flooded Gai Khad (nallah), which has no bridge, and has become extremely risky to cross due to the incessant rain lashing the region. Crossing Gai Khad is essential to reach the Bhanu Raina link road that connects to the Parala apple market.
'Despite the lack of a bridge, it was earlier manageable to cross the khad. But now, due to the strong water current and continuous rain, it's too dangerous for a loaded four-wheeler,' says Naresh, who is also up-pradhan of Kiar Gram Panchayat.
'I've had to employ Gorkha workers to carry each carton across the khad on their shoulders, where I've arranged another vehicle to transport the apples to the mandi. All this has pushed my transport cost to Rs 250 per carton,' says the 31-year-old.
'A fortnight ago, we met the Deputy Commissioner of Shimla, Anupam Kashyap, about Gai Khad. Although work to lay the culverts in the khad started, two of the culverts were washed away by the fast current of water. This time, I don't think that we will get any profit from our apple crop,' he adds.
'A very complex situation'
About 95 km away, in Gamog Gram Panchayat under Nirmand block of Kullu district, countless sacks of apples lie by the roadside or under temporary sheds. The sacks have been there for days to be transported to the Market Intervention Scheme (MIS) centre in the Nirmand subdivision in Anni.
'Incessant rain forced us to pluck our Red Golden apples much earlier than usual, putting this into the C grade category,' says Jagdish Kumar, husband of Gram Panchayat pradhan Kamlesh Devi.
'The roads here are so bad that pickup drivers refuse to come. We've requested local horticulture officials for help, but they only ask us to wait. If the rain continues, our apples will rot. Some of the people managed to transport the apples packed in sacks to the procurement centre, but the centre is yet to procure these. The apple sacks were lying roadside in the centre.'
Devinder Chauhan, Horticulture Development Officer, said it was 'a very complex situation'.
'The incessant rain and bad weather made many apple growers pluck their fruit much earlier than the desired time. This kind of fruit falls under the C category, which couldn't be sold in the markets, and the Himachal Horticulture Produce Marketing and Processing Corporation Ltd (HPMC) is bound to procure such apples at the rate of Rs 12 per kg. However, the apple should not be in a bad condition. We have to see the quality of the apple before procuring it.'
Meanwhile, the Horticulture Department has projected an estimated production and procurement of 6 lakh metric tonnes (MT) of apples this season.
'Just the beginning of the season'
The struggles of Naresh and Jagdish are not isolated cases. Many apple growers, particularly in lower-elevation areas, face similar challenges.
Orchardist Naresh Kashyap says small apple growers usually transport their crop to the nearby collection centres, but big and established orchardists go to Pinjore Apple Market in Haryana, Chandigarh Grain Market, Sector 26, and other local markets in Himachal Pradesh.
'This time the condition of link roads is so bad that we have to transport the apple cartons first in pick-ups to reach the national highway, and further upload them in the big trucks. The condition of national highways is also not good. Authorities removed debris and landslide material from the road, but again landslides took place,' Kashyap says.
'There's no doubt that cloudbursts and nearly two months of continuous rain have severely damaged road infrastructure, which is critical for the apple trade. There are reports of heavy orchard losses in disaster-hit areas like Mandi and Kullu, where orchard roads have also been destroyed, making it difficult to bring apples to purchasing centres. However, this is just the beginning of the season, which continues until late October,' says Vinay Singh, Director, Department of Horticulture.
'In higher-elevation areas like Kinnaur, Lahaul & Spiti, and parts of Shimla, apples are yet to reach markets, and road connectivity there is relatively better. Although restoring road connectivity is in the domain of the PWD department, our horticulture officers have been regularly taking up this particular issue in the meetings with deputy commissioners of the districts.'
Recently, videos surfaced showing farmers dumping apples into streams, claiming they couldn't transport them due to damaged roads. However, horticulture officials clarified that these were C-grade apples, often bird-damaged, prematurely plucked, or already rotten.
'While the MIS covers C-grade apples, the ones in those videos were unsellable,' an official said.
'Ensure hassle-free transportation'
Meanwhile, the crisis has reached the political arena.
On Tuesday, BJP MLA Lokender Kumar from the Anni Assembly seat in Kullu, and Congress MLA Mohan Lal Brakta from Rohru in Shimla raised the matter during the ongoing Monsoon Session.
'There are hundreds of apple growers in my constituency, especially in Bagipul and Nirmand, waiting to move their produce to the markets,' said Kumar.
Brakta urged the government to intervene. 'Apple is the main source of livelihood in Himachal. The season has begun, and the government must ensure hassle-free transportation, particularly in disaster-hit areas,' said Bract.
As the MLAs raised the issue during discussion on the issue of natural disaster in the Assembly, Chief Minister Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu assured that no grower would be left out of the procurement process.
CPI(M) leader Sanjay Chauhan also demanded immediate arrangements for transportation and procurement from cut-off regions, even suggesting temporary collection centres where road connectivity has collapsed. Ex-CM and LoP Jairam Thakur has already raised this issue on various platforms.