Stocked up for winter, fuel worries Kashmiris over food amidst Indo-Pak tensions

As the cross-border confrontation intensified between India and Pakistan, people in Kashmir Valley have started hoarding fuel. The "need for fuel over food" is peculiar to people in the Valley whose winter stock of food supplies is huge keeping weather conditions in mind.  

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"We forcefully closed down the petrol pump at 10.30 PM because everyone thronged to our station on a rumour that petrol is scarce," a fuel station attendant at Hyderpora petrol pump (which sits 3.5 kilometres from Srinagar airport) said.

 

Fuel station employees at several other places also voiced a similar concern. “Whenever people apprehend shutdown or curfew, they panic and start storing fuel in cars and cans additionally," a media person said. "Yesterday, people thought the war had broken out and the valley would be shut again so they crowded the fuel pumps."

 

However, the same enthusiasm was not found for stocking up food. Due to the cold climate in Kashmir, the local people traditionally store food items that last for many months. Generally, they keep enough rice to last anywhere from one month to six months or more.

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“We do not explore varieties in our staple," Kashmiri native Ghulam Ahmad said. "It is our regular meal." 

 

“Kashmiris have rice for lunch as well as for dinner with some pottage. For breakfast and supper, they have sheer chai (green tea added with milk and salt) and Girda (Kashmiri bread) which is easily available as every locality has Kaandur Vaan (Kashmiri bakery shop). 

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With tensions between India and Pakistan leading to heavy cross-border shelling on Thursday along the Line of Control (LoC), residents of north Kashmir’s border areas, including Machil, Nowgam, Tangdhar and Keran town in the Kupwara district were largely affected. Power supply across the valley was terminated leading to a blackout.

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