Road to nowhere: J&K highway closures bring migrant and farmer incomes to a halt

The dependence of farmers on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway, a road prone to landslides, has long been a point of concern. It’s closure for three weeks due to record rainfall and landslides earlier this year left seasonal migrants stranded without work and farmers with damaged crops

Tauseef Ahmad

Sajid Raina

Migrant workers remove rotten apples from consignments that could not be transported because of the closure of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway in August. Umaisar Gull Ganie/The Migration Story

SOPORE, JAMMU AND KASHMIR: The monsoon this year didn’t just wash away mountainsides – it destroyed a season’s worth of income.

In late August, Jammu division received more rain than it had in over a century, according to the Indian Meteorological Association, causing massive landslides and loss of life. The most fragile stretch of the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway (NH-44) – the only all-weather road linking the Kashmir Valley to the rest of the country – also witnessed multiple landslides and mudslides, and was closed for nearly three weeks.

This left many seasonal migrant workers – the labour force behind the autumn harvests of apple and paddy – stranded without work or income. They were stuck on the highway or unable to reach Sopore town, where they look for work during the harvest season.

Due to the highway closure, trucks with already picked apples couldn’t reach their markets either. Some farmers kept their produce in cold storages, but even then, it started to rot. And the standing paddy crop couldn’t be harvested in time because it is mostly migrants who do this labour-intensive work.

The highway was reopened in mid-September, but traffic was slow-moving and one-way, and a damaged stretch made movement even more difficult. Two-way traffic resumed only in mid-October. All of this hit the farm economy hard, including apple and paddy farmers and the seasonal migrant workers who work with them.

Stranded without work  

Mohammad Karim, 35, from Uttar Pradesh’s Ghazipur, reached Sopore before the highway closed, but he still couldn’t find work. “I came early, thinking I’d get work picking apples, but farmers have stopped hiring because the trucks can’t move,” he told The Migration Story at a chowk in Sopore where labourers gather to find work. “We wait every day for the road to open, and a month and a half has gone to waste.”

For his everyday expenses, Karim had to dip into the savings he usually keeps aside for emergencies. “Now, both [harvests] are delayed. Some of my friends went back to Delhi after two weeks because they couldn’t make any income,” he added.

Migrant workers like Karim work both in paddy fields and apple orchards, depending on the demand for workers. “For one week, we cut rice. For the next, we pick apples. That’s how we survive,” he said.

For most migrants, earnings from Kashmir’s harvests are not just about survival – they fund crucial milestones in their lives. For instance, Karim had hoped to repair his family home in Ghazipur, but this might be a distant dream now. “We come here to secure our future, but this time, instead of saving, we’re borrowing. My family calls me every week, asking when I’ll send money. I have no answer,” he said.

Other migrants shared stories of being stranded along the highway. Mukesh Kumar, 32, who was travelling to Sopore from Harbanspur village in Bihar’s Patna district, was stuck on NH-44 with around 25 other labourers. 

“We started our journey in early September, but the bridge in Jammu had collapsed, the highway was closed. It took us 20 days to reach Sopore,” he recalled. “When we reached, there was no work left for us. We were jobless. We couldn’t earn, couldn’t return home.”

This loss of income meant that Kumar, too, had to dip into his savings in order to survive and support his family back home. “Many of us have to pay debts, school fees and our family’s daily expenses. So, we spent from the money kept aside for medical expenses. This hardship made us feel so helpless,” he added.

The journey to J&K for work is a lifeline for many seasonal migrants like Kumar, but this year, everything changed. “We come with hope every year, but this time, the bridge broke, the road broke and so did our livelihood,” he said, his voice heavy with disappointment. “We lost everything and returned home empty-handed.”

Working in paddy fields and apple orchards during the autumn harvest helps migrant labourers fund crucial milestones in their lives. Shah Jehangir/The Migration Story

Ramesh Yadav, originally from Bairiya village in Bihar’s East Champaran district, landed in Sopore nearly a month later than planned. He had missed the peak work season and by his estimation, lost around 25,000 rupees of income.

“This year, from among 15 of us [who come to J&K every year], only a few came,” said the 32-year-old. “We heard that trucks are stuck on the highway for weeks. What work will we get if the apples aren’t moving? Kashmir’s harvests not only feeds its farmers but also thousands of workers like us.”

In previous years, Yadav earned anywhere between 30,000 and 45,000 rupees during the harvest season (August to October). It was enough for his family to survive till April, when the sowing season begins. But with the highway closure, he feared slipping into debt. “Kashmir gave us food and dignity, but in our village, there’s no work. I even had to borrow money for my daughter’s school fees. If I hadn’t, I would have to stop her education,” he added.

This loss of income upended the lives of many migrants – and disrupted their plans. For instance, Sunil Kumar, from Bihar’s Sitamarhi district, had wanted to send money home for his sister’s wedding in November. But he was stranded on the highway for nearly two weeks because of the landslides. “We slept in the truck for days,” he recalled. “By the time we reached Sopore, farmers had already hired others. I earned barely half of what I usually do.”

The news of NH-44’s closure dissuaded Shahid Ansari from travelling to J&K for work, even though he had been coming here since 2016. “We depend on Kashmir every autumn,” Ansari said over the phone from Barsara village in U.P.’s Jaunpur district. “When the highway closes, it affects everyone — the farmers there and the labourers here. This year, I couldn’t go, and I had to borrow money to feed my children.”

Apples rotted while farmers waited for the highway to reopen earlier this year, and they were eventually discarded near the Sopore fruit mandi (market). Arshdeep Singh/The Migration Story

Rotten apples, damaged paddy

Over the past decade, migrant labourers from Bihar, U.P. and Delhi have become the backbone of J&K’s twin autumn harvests. Locals tend to prefer picking apples as it is less physically demanding, leaving paddy farmers in need of hands. That’s where migrants step in – they take up the labour-intensive work in rice fields as well as the loading and packing of picked apples.

“This year, they [migrant workers] couldn’t come because the highway has been closed for over a month. Everything is delayed – the apples, the paddy and our earnings,” said Ghulam Nabi Dar, 55, an apple farmer from Delina village in Baramulla district. 

When Dar spoke to The Migration Story, he was surrounded by apple crates that should have been on their way to Delhi’s markets on the NH-44. “I am not a big farmer, and my entire year’s income depends on just 1,000-1,200 boxes of apples,” he said. “But now, I can’t even afford to store them in cold storages. When the apples started rotting, it felt like I was watching a year of hard work collapse in front of my eyes.”

Dar was forced to to take loans and though he was able to sell some of his produce once the highway reopened, the apples were of a lower quality by then. So, the rate at which he sold each box fell – from 1,000 rupees to around 500 rupees – making it hard for him to cover the input costs of labour and pesticides. With the profits from this year’s harvest, Dar had hoped to help his son set up his own business, but he had to put that plan on hold.

Others, like Mushtaq Ahmad War, an apple and paddy farmer from Sopore, found themselves setting aside their plans as well. War wanted to repair his house this year, but was forced to reconsider.

Unable to transport his apples to the markets in time, he lost 4 lakh rupees just waiting for the trucks on the highway to start moving again. “Most of my fruit rotted while it was being stored indoors [in cold storages]. We depend entirely on the Jammu–Srinagar National Highway — it’s our only route to transport apples. A closure even for a day during the harvest season means that hundreds of families face losses,” he explained.

The shortage of migrant labourers also delayed nearly every stage of the paddy harvest, War said. “Without them [migrants], our fields remain half-done — no local worker can replace their experience and speed.”

With the delays came damage to the standing crop. “This year, the paddy season went completely off track, and by the time the fields were harvested, the crop had already reduced in quality,” said Danish Bhat, a farmer from Manigam village in Ganderbal district. He ended up with a yield which was a third smaller than last year’s. “Without migrant labour at the right time, our paddy crop simply cannot survive.”

Labourers thresh paddy to separate the grains from the stalks (left) as women gather together the fallen grains (right) in Srinagar district. Shah Jehangir/The Migration Story

A crisis beyond the highway

The dependence of J&K’s farmers on a single, fragile highway prone to landslides has long been a point of concern. This year, the losses incurred by the agriculture and allied activities sector due to monsoon floods was an estimated 209 crore rupees, according to the J&K government. And the sector reportedly employs 42.8% of the union territory’s labour force.

Together, the record rains, the floods and the landslides along the NH-44, in Jammu division’s Ramban and Udhampur districts, cut off the Kashmir Valley from the rest of the country for three weeks.

Experts say that this has exposed the region’s deep structural weaknesses. Dr. Arifa Bhat, an economist at the University of Kashmir in Srinagar, says the highway closure has shown just how dependent the Valley’s agricultural economy is on migrant labourers.

“In the past decade, migration has transformed Kashmir’s harvests,” she told The Migration Story. “Migrant workers from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh have filled a critical labour gap, making them essential to both agriculture and horticulture. The closure of the highway doesn’t just stop the movement of goods — it stops the movement of people who keep this economy running.”

A NEW THOROUGHFARE

Farmers sell apples at the Sopore mandi (market) after the autumn harvest. Arshdeep Singh/The Migration Story

The reopening of the national highway, however, brought little relief. The prices of transport and packaging material surged, and traders were wary of transporting perishable goods on a route that remains unstable. “The fear of another closure is always there,” added Dr. Bhat. “Until there’s an alternative route or better maintenance [on this one], such disruptions will keep crushing Kashmir’s seasonal workforce.”

For migrant workers, the promise of Kashmir’s twin autumn harvests was replaced with feelings of uncertainty – and they’re counting their losses. “Who knows if we’ll come again next year? One road closed and our entire year’s livelihood collapsed,” said Yadav, who has now returned to his village in Bihar.

Small apple farmers like Dar pray that the fragile highway won't have to be closed off again next year. “I really hope that the highway stays open during the next season. If things continue like this, we’ll have no option but to end our lives,” he said, feeling utterly helpless.

Edited by Subuhi Jiwani

Tauseef Ahmad is a Kashmir-based freelance journalist. He has reported extensively on the insurgency, human rights, environment and climate change. He tweets at @wseef_t

Sajid Raina is an independent journalist based in Kashmir. He tweets at @SajidRaina1