Udhampur, May 31 -- The terrorist attack on April 22 in Pahalgam's Baisaran Meadow continues to cast a long and devastating shadow--not just over the lives of the families and relatives of the victims but also over the livelihoods of the people in the region.

Among these, a section included the apricot farmers of Jammu and Kashmir's Udhampur district, whose fortunes have withered alongside the region's crumbling tourism sector.

In the picturesque Lower Madha village of Chenani block, this year's apricot harvest promised abundance as trees hung heavy with fruit, and expectations for profits were high. But with tourist inflow drying up after the attack, the bumper crop has become a burden.

Apricot growers, who depend on visitors flocking...