Recent visit of the Minister for Railways Suresh Prabhu and his interaction with official circles and media is memorable in the history of railways in the State. An extensive plan of rail connectivity, construction of satellite Jammu railway station to decongest the present station, upgrading and modernizing the existing Jammu railway Station, improving some more railway stations including Kathua station, introducing direct Jammu to Haridwar railway from March this year and so many other schemes of improving rail connectivity in the State will change the very complexion of rail journey in our State. The Railway Minister did not just boast that J&K was close to the heart of New Delhi, but by announcing a slew of new projects and upgrading of old projects so as to vouch for phenomenal growth of rail connectivity in the State, he showed that he meant what he said. Along with his announcement of changing the very face of Jammu Railway Station and providing it with modern amenities and conveniences, the Minister announced that his ministry would take up the project of carrying railway from Jammu to Poonch so as to connect two border district of the State. Survey on this line has already been completed but the Congress Government had shelved the project at the end of the day. Likewise, the Billawar Railway connectivity is also on the anvil. These two connectivities will contribute immensely towards economic growth of the State in general.
It was also disclosed that an Express Way from Delhi to Katra was on the anvil and 15,000 crore rupees had been earmarked for that project. This would supplement connectivity between Katra and almost all major cities in the county. Likewise in Kashmir also, the plan is to take the rail connection from Baramulla to Kupwara and Lolab. That connectivity will bring about a radical change in making fruit industry as an important source of State’s economic strength because that railway will pass through an area which is producing the largest quantity of Kashmir apple. This connectivity will give a big boost to the marketing of Kashmir apple.
Essentially there are three main purposes why the Railways Ministry has decided to make frugal investment in expanding rail network in the State. First is to boost the economy of the State by introducing dependable connectivity. With this connectivity, we expect many investors to invest in a big way in Jammu and Kashmir. That is the most effective way of reducing unemployment in the State besides boosting its economy. Second is to make the State tourist friendly. We find that there is a big shift in the pattern of tourism in the State. From pleasure tourism the trend is shifting to pilgrimage tourism. This is true in respect of all the three regions of the State. The number of pilgrim tourist is bound to increase with excellent travel and trekking facilities provided by the Tourism Department and the Shrine Boards. As such rail connectivity will go a long way in facilitating the travel.
The third aspect is of boosting the handicrafts industry in all the three regions of the State. The Minister indicated that he was thinking of introducing e- retailing so that its market grows across the nation and it would in turn boost the economy of this part of country. It will make the marketing of our handicraft products very easy and convenient through the country and as we all know Kashmir handicraft has a huge home market.
Last but not the least comes up the security aspect. We have a long mountainous border with China and Pakistan. Both countries are not very friendly towards us. In recent years, the question of securing our borders against the intrusion of the hostile countries has become a nagging question. Though India wants to have good and friendly relations with both of them, yet both are unpredictable because their intentions against us are not good. Therefore, it becomes unavoidable for us to strengthen our border security to the extent that our adversaries have no opportunity of catching us napping. The frontline has to be provided with supplies of men and material and then only can we say that we have dependable security structure in place on our borders. Rail and road connectivity close to the border is of great importance and China has already accomplished it. Fortunately the Railway Minister has full grasp of this scenario and has come to the conclusion to go even out of the way in providing network of rail connectivity in the State.
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