Shopian farmers oppose railway expansion, fear threat to livelihood

Srinagar, March 14: Scores of farmers in south Kashmir’s Shopian district have expressed their resentment against the proposed expansion of railway line, fearing it would harm their livelihoods.
While the authorities state that the matter has been taken up with officials for further consideration.
Locals of Reshipora, Zainapora and its adjacent villagers are opposing the expansion of the railway line and claim that it will destroy their livelihood in future.
Zubair Ahmad, a local resident, told Rising Kashmir that they will not allow the proposed expansion of the railway line from their orchards. It will not only destroy our land but will degrade the entire ecosystem in the area known for quality apples, he said.
“We are mainly dependent on Apple orchards and have no source of income except these. There are many alternatives for the government . It is a request to Lieutenant Governor Manoj Sinha to divert this proposal,” Zubair said.
Another local, Bashir Ahmad said that people of Reshipora have suffered for decades. The proposed railway line will leave the entire village landless and it will approximately need over 100 Kanals.
“Already a major chunk of land has been taken by the government on lease for a drug farm and GDC Shopian. Now this railway line will affect the livelihood of hundreds of farmers who are mainly dependent on horticulture produce,” he said.
Bashir said they only demand to divert the railway link from other parts of the district where the livelihood of people will not be impacted by anyone.
Deputy Commissioner Shopian Faz Lul Haseeb told Rising Kashmir that the issue has been brought under their notice and it will be discussed with higher officials for further consideration.
A top official from North Railways said that the railway team had visited the Reshipora village of Shopian on Sunday to mark the proposed line.
However people resisted the move and employees were not allowed to demark the land. The issue has been taken up with the concerned authorities for further action, he said.
Chief Public Relations Officer Northern Railways Deepak Kumar was not available for his official comments on the issue.
Earlier this year, Ministry of Railway sanctioned the final location survey of five lines, including the doubling of the Baramulla-Banihal section (135.5km), Baramulla-Uri (50km), Sopore-Kupwara (33.7km), Awantipora-Shopian (27.6km) and Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam (77.5km.
On Feb 20, Prime Minister Narendra Modi inaugurated key railway projects worth over Rs 16,000 crore in Jammu and Kashmir.
These include a 48.1 kilometres (kms) portion of the new rail line under Udhampur – Srinagar – Baramulla Rail Link Project (USBRL). The Banihal – Khari – Sumber – Sangaldan section costed Rs 15,863 crore and includes the country’s longest railway tunnel spanning 12.77 kms.
The Baramulla-Sangaldan line is working, but it still needs to link up with Udhampur in Jammu and the rest of India’s rail system. About 63km out of 272km of the Udhampur-Baramulla line still needs to be finished.