Kashmir’s border districts may get rail link

JAMMU - The railways would explore the possibility of taking a rail link to the strategic border areas of Jammu and Kashmir, running parallel to the Line of Control (LoC) between India and Pakistan, a senior official said Friday.

According to a government statement, Railway Board chairman S.S. Khurana extended this assurance in a meeting with Chief Minister Omar Abdullah.

Khurana assured the chief minister that the railways would look into the possibility of extending the state’s first railway to Kupwara district in the valley and the twin border districts of Rajouri and Poonch in Jammu region.

The Indian Railways is currently engaged in the tremendous task of taking the rail link to the Kashmir Valley, piercing the Himalayan range of Pir Panjal at a height of 9,000 feet above sea level.

Abdullah highlighted the need for rail link in these districts for speedy economic development of the region.

“Railway facilities in hilly backward areas of the state is an imperative to open up these areas for all-round development and generation of wide ranging economic activities,” he said.

Abdullah also underlined the need for speeding up the work on Katra-Qazigund railway project to link the Jammu region with the Kashmir Valley. The project has been going on since 1997.