*Highway open, no snow yet daily price shocks expose broken regulation*
Srinagar, Dec 02: Even before snowfall or road closures, Kashmir’s markets are in turmoil, with prices of essentials changing almost every day as traders “set rates at will” and government agencies remain missing from the scene.
From eggs to chicken, every item tells a story of disorder. In some places, a tray of eggs costs Rs: 240 and chicken has soared to Rs: 170-200 per kilogram, while vegetable prices fluctuate without logic or control. In other areas, the same items are sold at completely different prices.
Despite the Srinagar–Jammu highway remaining open and the weather staying stable, the region’s markets are behaving as if cut off from the rest of the country.
“Every shop has its own rate card and every day it changes,” said Nazir Ahmad, a resident of Dalgate, Srinagar, said. “If this is the condition with clear weather and open roads, what will happen once the snow arrives?”
Locals say the rate lists pasted outside shops have become meaningless. “Outside it is one rate, inside it is another,” said Rasik, a resident of Bemina. “We have stopped asking for lists; no one follows them anyway.”
When contacted, officials from the Food, Civil Supplies and Consumer Affairs (FCS&CA) Department shared that their powers are limited under the current law. “We conduct inspections and issue rate lists, but enforcement is complicated by procedural limits,” said an FCS&CA official, requesting anonymity. “Under current rules, our reach is limited, and we can warn, not punish.”
The situation worsened after the government revoked the Jammu and Kashmir Mutton (Licensing and Control) Order, 1973, which had allowed price regulation of livestock products for decades.
Following that move, the FCS&CA and district administrations were directed not to issue or enforce price orders for mutton, chicken, or poultry products in the Valley—(KNO)
