Himachal apples set to reach Delhi

A convoy of loaded apple trucks under police protection would make its way tonight (at 9 pm) to New Delhi from Himachal Pradesh, police sources said.

Scores of trucks were expected to pull out of the Parwanoo and Swarghat barriers at 9 pm tonight under police protection, said a police official.

Apple harvest is currently in full swing and has suffered due the truckers' strike started on August 21 countrywide, as heaps of apple boxes have collected at various places in the sprawling apple belt in the hill state.

"Truckers will be escorted by the police, and we have coordinated with the neighbouring Haryana and Delhi police because the trucks will pass through those two states," a police official coordinating the operation told Business Standard, requesting anonymity.

August is the peak season for apple harvest and normally close to 500 trucks leave the state every day to markets across the country, but the flow has been reduced to a trickle after the strike call.

"We are also worried because after the trucks reach the Azadpur market in Delhi, it is doubtful if unloading can take place for sale," said Joginder Tajta, an apple farmer.

Himachal Pradesh, along with Jammu & Kashmir, accounts for almost the entire apple production of the country. It is a major income earner of Himachal Pradesh.