Moving to pastures

It is a routine in J&K that in the spring season thousands of nomad families along with their sheep and goats move on foot from Jammu to Kashmir.

This year the tribal affairs department made their journey comfortable by hiring trucks so that they could reach the pastures with their cattle without any hassles.

The hard journey from Jammu on foot to greener pastures of Kashmir used to consume a lot of precious time for nomads leading to financial loss and physical strain. The hardships of these nomads further aggravated over the years due to the dwindling number of primary sources of transportation, horses. Transportation of their household goods and cattle to the upper reaches through tricks and load carriers was a long pending demand of these nomads before the administration.

On the directions of Lieutenant Governor, Manoj Sinha, the department initiated a special project envisaging a transhumant support system including transit accommodations and transport facilities for the migratory population.

In line with the announcement made by Lieutenant Governor to minimize hardship being faced by the tribals during seasonal migration, the Tribal Affairs Department procured a fleet of 40 trucks for transporting around 30,000 families from Jammu to Kashmir via Mughal road and National Highway-44 connecting Jammu with Srinagar. These trucks were procured by the department through J&K Road Transport Corporation.