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Mehbooba pushes for ‘fruit corridor’ railway projects through barren land in Kashmir
Mehbooba has also sought rail connectivity for the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal region as, she said, the absence of rail links has ‘constrained the development’ of the two mountainous regions.
People’s Democratic Party president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday wrote to the union railway minister hailing him for keeping in abeyance the railway projects passing through Kashmir’s apple orchards. However, she urged the ministry for realignment of the projects along the barren land to develop a dedicated fruit corridor for the horticulture-dependent Kashmir valley.
She has also sought rail connectivity for the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal region as, she said, the absence of rail links has ‘constrained the development’ of the two mountainous regions.
The former chief minister of J&K welcomed the Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw’s decision to keep the three proposed railway projects in the Kashmir Valley in abeyance, describing it as a much-needed relief for lakhs of agrarian families whose livelihoods were under threat.
In a letter addressed to Vaishnaw, Mehbooba Mufti said agriculture and horticulture form the backbone of Kashmir’s economy, directly or indirectly, sustaining nearly two-thirds of the population. She pointed out that cultivable land in the Valley constitutes only a small fraction of its total geographical area and has already been significantly reduced due to highways, bypasses, and ring road projects.
“While the temporary suspension of these railway projects has offered momentary respite, the uncertainty surrounding their future continues to distress farming families and puts their long-term investments at risk,” she said.
On Monday, Vaishnaw announced that three train projects in Jammu and Kashmir, which were opposed by the elected government and MPs, have been put in abeyance for the time being, over apprehensions of damage to apple orchards. Although he didn’t name any projects, the Pahalgam and Pulwama-Shopian projects had faced opposition from locals.
She urged the Railway Ministry to scrap the projects in their present alignment and replan them in a manner that safeguards precious fertile land. Such a move, she said, would not only remove prevailing anxiety but also protect the livelihoods of nearly one and a half million families.
