“From streetlights to removal of garbage from roads, we are being made to beg before officials but nobody cares as we are not their vote bank. So the neglect is obvious,” he said.

Once a prosperous town, Sopore is at present a sordid tale of official apathy.

The Swach Bharat campaign has made no impact here as there is no public convenience for a distance of 2 kilometers from the General Bus Stand to the Jamia Masjid Sopore.

The local residents vaingloriously used to call Sopore as Chota London for its prosperity. But now the town, which houses Asia’s second largest Fruit Mandi, is littered with garbage as the town has no dumping site. While the garbage is adding to the nuisance, the underdeveloped roads and illegal encroachment of footpaths further adds to the chaos.

“We are being discriminated for political stance and ideology. It is an open secret that while other parts of the state are witnessing development our part is facing only neglect from all the governments because of our pro-freedom sentiment,” said civil society member and president Sopore Traders Federation, Muhammad Ashraf Ganai.

“From streetlights to removal of garbage from roads, we are being made to beg before officials but nobody cares as we are not their vote bank. So the neglect is obvious,” he said.

“Nobody from the official side is ready to listen to our pleas and that is evident from the situation on ground, markets which once were bustling with trade activities have now become a dumping ground for garbage,” said Ganai.

He said that during the Chief Minister public outreach program “we are denied the audience with the CM after being made to wait for the entire day.”

Another traders’ representative, Muhammad Ashraf Zargar, said there is conspiracy to weaken our economy.

“The government made pesticides taxable. Earlier pesticides were under zero taxation category,” he said.

Zargar said they met the finance minister and the divisional commissioner Kashmir and informed them about the town and its residents’ problems.

An official said the divisional commissioner has taken note of the traders’ grievances and directed the deputy commissioner Baramulla and director local bodies to redress these at the earliest.