Srinagar-Jammu National Highway: The continued disruption of the Jammu-Srinagar national highway has adversely affected the availability of essential supplies in Kashmir, and the fruit growers and traders fear irreparable loss to the industry unless the highway is restored to heavy vehicular traffic immediately.

The traffic department advisory said only light vehicles would be allowed to move on the Srinagar-Jammu highway on Tuesday. Hundreds of apple-laden trucks have been stranded on the highway for many days, as the consignments are likely to rot unless the highway opens without further delay.

These trucks are parked at different places on the highway, unable to move beyond Udhampur due to the sinking of a portion of the highway at Tharad. A major sinking stretch of the road, measuring approximately 50-60 meters near the Tharad Bridge, has caused the highway to close for traffic, with efforts to clear debris and restore the road continuing amidst further damage and unstable terrain.

Fruit growers have already suffered huge losses due to the NH closure, as the apple consignments in the stationary trucks have rotted. Growers are living life on the edge in the Valley, fearing that unless the highway is immediately restored, the horticulture industry would have suffered irreparable losses in Kashmir.

Chief minister Omar Abdullah said on Monday on X, “Just spoke to Union Minister @MORTHIndia @nitin_gadkari Sb regarding the situation along NH 44 & the lack of connectivity with the rest of the country along this vital link. The frustration of fruit growers is understandable. They have been very patient for the first few days but watching their hard work rot because @nhidcl is unable to stabilise the highway, their patience has worn thin & that is totally understandable. Some concrete steps will be taken within the next 24 hours to address this problem but I will wait for that to happen before I say any more about the proposed plan of action.”

Affected by the disruption of the supply chain, most petrol refilling stations in the Valley operated with thin stocks as many put up boards stating that they had exhausted their stocks on Monday.

Long queues of vehicles at the petrol refilling stations added to the fear of the common citizen. Edibles are also being sold by the traders at self-imposed prices, taking refuge under the highway blockade. Chicken was sold at Rs 190 per kg while eggs cost a buyer Rs 240 per dozen in Srinagar city.

The scarcity is already hitting household budgets. Prices of vegetables and other edibles have begun to climb steeply in local markets. Traders say rates of onions, tomatoes and other essentials have doubled in some areas within a week, while milk and poultry are also becoming costlier. So far, medicines and foodgrains are freely available, and there has been no hoarding of these items in the Valley.

New Delhi: In The wake of glitches and technical errors being reported on the Income Tax Portal, the Central Board of Direct Taxes has given into demands of people seeking further extension in the deadline for filing ITR.

The due date for filing the Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for Assessment Year (AY) 2025-26 has now been extended by a day, from September 15 (Monday) to September 16 (Tuesday). 

The official account of the Income Tax Department announced on X late on Monday night, “KIND ATTENTION TAXPAYERS! The due date for filing of Income Tax Returns (ITRs) for AY 2025-26, originally due on 31st July 2025, was extended to 15th September 2025. The Central Board of Direct Taxes has decided to further extend the due date for filing these ITRs for AY 2025-26 from 15th September, 2025 to 16th September, 2025. To enable changes in the utilities, the e- filing portal will remain in maintenance mode from 12:00 AM  to 02:30AM on 16th September 2025.”

The I-T Department has also said that if people are having difficulty accessing the Income Tax e-Filing Portal it may sometimes arise due to local system/browser settings.

Tax department has also advised ITR filers to follow a few simple steps to resolve such issues

Delete temporary files → Press Win + R → type temp and %temp% → delete all files.

Clear browser cache & cookies → Go to Browser Settings → Clear browsing data (cache + cookies)

Use a different/supported browser → Latest version of Chrome or Edge.

Open in Incognito/Private Mode → Shortcut: Ctrl+Shift+N OR Ctrl+Shift+P (Firefox

Disable browser extensions → Especially ad-blockers or privacy tools.

Update your browser → Ensure you are on the latest version.

Try a different network → Switch to another Wi-Fi or mobile hotspot.

The tax department said that following these checks usually resolves most local access-related difficulties. For further support, it has advised people to connect with the Income Tax department through our official helpdesk/contact channels.