In view of Udhampur-Katra rail link expected to become functional from March next year, it is pertinent for the concerned railway authorities to plan in advance to meet the requirements of this forthcoming railway station in the State. Essentially this station is to serve the huge number of pilgrims to Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine for which Katra would be the last disembarkation point. This year the expected number of pilgrims is likely to cross one crore. That gives an idea of the magnitude of services which Katra railway station will have to offer. Are the railways ready to cope with the dimensions of the task?
The meeting between Governor N.N. Vohra, who is also the Chairman of the Shrine Board and the Divisional Railway Manager, Ferozepur Division of Northern Railway, in whose jurisdiction Katra railway station falls, was meant to discuss all aspects of requirements to be put in place before the railway station at Katra is formally inaugurated and made functional. Understandably the Shrine Board and the Railways are coordinating their efforts of providing class services to the pilgrims. They will have taken into account the ever increasing number of pilgrims to the shrine and thus while the layout for the station is finalized hopefully they will keep in mind that within a couple of years they will be faced with the need of expanding the railway station and facilities connected with pilgrimage like sanitation, water supply, eateries, hotel accommodation, toilets, medical facilities etc. This is a stupendous task and considerable planning and vision will be required to cover all aspects. Foremost will be the ecological and environmental balance which will have to be maintained all cost. Obviously with the passage of time, a substantive township will develop in the locality of Katra and the Shrine Board might need to hold consultations with the State Government also to sort out the modalities of the township in making. Once the railway station is in place, it takes very little time for the site to develop to full capacity.
Now that Katra will be the disembarkation station for the pilgrims, it does not mean that the importance of Jammu railway station will be reduced. Maybe the number of pilgrims disembarking in Jammu will be somewhat less but that does not take away anything from the importance of Jammu railway station. However, we have, through our columns, said it a number of times that Jammu railway station is inadequate to meet the requirements of commuters. In the first place it lacks proper sanitation, and secondly its vista is offending and totally untidy. The mini bus stand outside the railway station looks a ruined and desolate place, untidy and ill-conceived. The approach road to the railway station has been encroached to the extent that hardly one vehicle can pass. As the station is perched on high ground, there is no easy system of negotiating the rising approach. There are no escalators for transhipment to other platforms and only overhead bridges have to be negotiated which is very difficult for old, children and passengers with few pieces of luggage. Jammu railway station is badly in need of modernization, expansion and up-gradation. The railway-run restaurant is dysfunctional and so are other necessary service gadgets like telephones and electric fitting. Proper display of in-coming and out-going schedule of trains is lacking and so are the toilet services. One has to drag the luggage all the stairs to reach the platform which is over-crowded owing to short space there. The authorities of Northern Railway are taking very casual view of this depressing situation of Jammu railway station which could have been one of the scenic stations in the country if a little bit of imagination was inducted into its planning. Minibuses plying between the railway station and the city are horribly inhuman. And owing to non-existence of metered three-wheelers, the drivers fleece the passengers by charging twice or even thrice the normal fare. We hope this casual approach will not be the fate of Katra railway station.
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