Scores of trains chugging in and out of Jammu railway station day and night; millions of passengers, largely the pilgrims to Mata Vaishno Devi shrine jostling, shouldering and elbowing for entry into the over-crowded rail compartments; crawling humanity on narrow platform with no space even for a pin; offensively stinking toilets, water taps all dry and parched, platform ceiling fans one and all out of function; BSNL telephones totally dead in the booths; filth and garbage littered all over the parking site of mini buses; three-wheelers fleecing the commuters as they never ever have the meters functional; entry to the railway station from the main road encroached upon and reduced to the width through which hardly a single small car can pass; hawkers spanning the major portion of the road and rendering vehicular movement difficult and dangerous; platoons of beggars, physically handicapped persons and pickpockets or chain snatchers swarming nooks and corners of the entire platform complex; fruit and handicraft vendors honking all around with saleables spitefully spread out on muck and the so-called railway restaurant— the gathering place of swarms of flies, mosquitoes, cockroaches, termite and rodents all enjoying the stale and decayed crumbs heaped in corners of the “restaurant”-this is what is called Jammu Railway Station.
But here is the other side of the story. Perched on the high ground in the mildly descending foothills of the Shivalak range, Jammu Railway Station commands panoramic view that overlooks the entire city and beyond as far as the skyline. You can even figure out the serpentine Tawi like a shining line far away to the south. Had any imagination and aesthetics gone into its making, Jammu Railway station could have become India’s most attractive and scenic station enthralling the hearts of visitors to the City of Temples? But as an incoming train approaches the Jammu Station, you find a large juggi-jhumpri colony located just yards from the railway line presenting loathsome look that puts one to shame to have this humanity reduced to such wretchedness just after they had finished as labourers employed to work on the building of the railway station and the structures and buildings connected with it. They are labourers from different parts of the country who built huge buildings but cannot own an inch of land on which they worked.
We have been repeatedly asking railway authorities to change this sordid and appalling picture of Jammu railway station. Nobody listens. A lot is said about the Kashmir railway project, of course a prestigious project it is, but anybody going to Kashmir has to pass through Jammu railway station. We had almost lost the hope of things changing for Jammu railway station. But now the news has come in that the Railway Minister has announced Jammu to be one of the three new Railway Divisions in the country. Currently, Jammu is in Ferozpur Division of the Northern Railway zone and if Jammu becomes a division then it will be the first rail division in Jammu and Kashmir. This windfall has happened against all expectations of the people in J&K State, and the benefits that are likely to accrue from this decision are enormous. In the first place, Jammu railway station will undergo total modernization in all respects viz. platform accommodation, infrastructure, escalators, passenger conveniences, increased frequency of regional railways, sanitation and water supply, connectivity, streamlining of public transport system, restaurants and eateries and accommodation etc. Response to public and private complaints will be spontaneous and necessary action will be taken without delay. Rail transport will be regulated with minimum faults and repair work of engines, compartments, railway track, control rooms and machinery etc all will be streamlined. The creation of Jammu Railway Division will also provide employment to many unemployed people especially the educated unemployed. The project will immensely support Jammu economy and prove a strong instrument for Jammu’s industrial development. In fact the Jammu Railway Division will cater to entire railway system in the State as it is getting extended to Kashmir. A big task which the Jammu Railway Division shall have to concentrate upon will be the extension of rail line to Poonch in Jammu region and Baramulla to Lolab in Kashmir region. These projects will take their own time but the contemplated Jammu Division will lay the foundation for these extensions. Therefore we welcome the decision and expect that the task of establishing Jammu Division will be taken in hand at the earliest. All that we will say at this stage is that local people should get preference for employment as the new project is taken in hand. Local contractors, too, should have an edge over others if they are equipped with necessary wherewithal to bid for any work connected with the new project.
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