Recently, Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually inaugurated the Banihal-Sangaldan Railway Line in J&K. He flagged off the first electric train in the Kashmir Valley running from Baramulla station on February 20th 2024.
The Banihal-Sangaldan Railway Line has been constructed at an estimated cost of Rs 15,863 crore and is expected to revolutionize the railway transportation system in J&K. Sangaldan is located in Reasi district and this is around 48 kms from Banihal. Very soon Sangaldan will be further connected with Katra railway station.
The work on the 63 kms Katra Sangaldan section is going at a fast pace and is in an advanced stage of completion. This section includes 14 main tunnels and 5 escape tunnels. The mining work on all these tunnels has been completed. Out of a total scope of 67 kms, 59 kms track lining has been completed.
Out of 33 bridges , 32 bridges are complete and work on the last bridge is also in the advanced stage. Within coming months Srinagar would get connected with Jammu through this railway line. All this is part of the 272 Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Line (USBRL) project which is likely to be completed in July-August 2024. However, the Baramulla to Banihal rail line was already operational, a stretch of 48 km was added to this line last month (Banihal Sangaldan).
The Udhampur -Srinagar -Baramulla railway project (USBRL project) also includes the world’s highest railway bridge over the Chenab River. The deck height above the river bed of the Chenab Bridge is 359 meters and the length of the bridge is 1315 meters. The cost of the bridge is Rs 1486 crore. However, the estimated cost of the entire project is Rs 41,119 crore
New Railway Lines in Kashmir
Some more railway lines have been sanctioned by the Ministry of Railways for Kashmir valley for which a survey was recently started. Last year, during the winter session of parliament, the Minister for Railways Ashwani Vaishnav while responding to some Members of Parliament gave a detailed report on the extension of the Indian railways network to Jammu & Kashmir. In a written reply given to joint questions put forward by Lok Sabha MPs Jugal Kishore, Jamyang T Namgyal, Bidyut Mahato the Union Railway Minister said that Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Railway Line -USBRL project is, perhaps, the most difficult new railway line project undertaken in the country post-independence, but within coming months the work would finally be completed. The Minister in his reply said:
“The terrain passes through the young Himalayas, which are full of geological surprises and numerous problems. This section predominantly involves tunnelling i.e. 97.42 Km out of 111 Km (i.e. 87%) of length of Katra-Banihal section is in tunnels and maximum length of tunnel T-49 is 12.77 Km, which will be the longest transportation railway tunnel in the country. Railway has made the world’s highest Railway Bridge over Chenab river in Reasi District of Jammu & Kashmir. The iconic Chenab Bridge is 1315 m long having Arch span of 467 m and height of 359 m above river bed. Indian Railways first cable-stayed bridge has been constructed over AnjiKhad. Its bridge deck is 331m above the river bed level and height of its Main pylon is 193m.”
He said that another track of 135 kms would be laid on the Banihal Baramulla. He also said that new railway lines on Baramulla-Uri section (50km), Sopore-Kupwara (33.7km) , Awantipora-Shopian (27.6km), Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam (77.5km) would also be laid in the coming years
Apple farmers not happy
Traveling by train from Kashmir to Udhampur -Jammu and then to New Delhi has been a dream of Kashmiri people. The railway line laid between Banihal and Baramulla has given a great boost not only to the economy but every day thousands of people travel between Banihal and Baramulla via Kulgam, Anantnag, Pulwama, Srinagar, Budgam and Baramulla districts at very minimal cost. People from Srinagar or Budgam who worked in Baramulla, Kupwara, Anantnag or Kulgam many years back would usually stay in rented accomodation in these places as travelling to and fro daily was not possible. But for the last many years they travel these long distances by train as Banihal – Baramulla rail link has made this possible. The train journey is not only cheap but it takes very less time as well and there are no traffic jams at all.
These are the positive aspects of the Railways in Kashmir. As the Govt of India is planning to further connect different areas in Kashmir valley via railway network, this might indeed give a relief to commuters but it would severely impact our agriculture especially the apple industry. It is important to note that very less agricultural land was acquired while laying railway lines between Udhampur – Banihal section via Katra and Sangaldan as most of the land acquired was forest land located in rugged mountains . On the contrary , when a railway line was laid between Qazigund to Baramulla in Kashmir valley during late 1990s or early 2000 , 90 % of the land that was acquired was agricultural land . As the project was first of its kind in Kashmir valley, people welcomed it and sacrificed their land as well. In-fact Govt of India compensated the affected landowners and even many were given jobs also in the railways. This Railway line was further extended to Banihal from Qazigund via an 11 kms long tunnel and for this purpose not much agricultural land was acquired. But as the Govt is planning to further expand railway connectivity to other areas within Kashmir valley, this will definitely impact the agriculture land especially the apple orchards in north and South Kashmir.
During expansion of NH 44 Srinagar Jammu and construction of Srinagar Ring Road already we have lost almost 10,000 kanals of farmland in Anantnag, Pulwama , Budgam and Srinagar districts in last 6 to 7 years and now if more and more land is acquired for highways and railways it would have severe consequences in the years to come.
The Government is planning to connect Baramulla-Uri (50km), Sopore-Kupwara (33.7km) , Awantipora-Shopian (27.6km), Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam (77.5km) with a railway network but are we aware how much farmland we would have to sacrifice for it?
In total, over 190 km long railway line would be laid in these areas which are located in North and South Kashmir. Unfortunately, in all these areas 100% land that would be acquired is highly fertile and has fully grown apple trees on it. In the Baramulla-Uri section a lot of forest land with wildlife would get impacted if the railway line is laid. As the Railway Ministry started a survey in Bijbehara Pahalgam section people were seen protesting and the videos went viral on social media. In Shopian Zainapora also people protested after survey teams went to some villages. A local news portal The Kashmiriyat had filed a detailed report on this.
The report published by The Kashmiriyat on its website had quoted a 56 year old Bashir Ahmed Bhat an apple grower from Rehsipora Zainapora in Shopian district. The poor farmer is completely disturbed as his apple orchard would get impacted with the proposed railway line and he has no other source of income.
“I was informed that the government is taking our land up for a vital railway line project. We rely on apple orchards for our livelihood and the railway line is not much needed in our area and it will impact our bread and butter. We do not understand who is seeking the construction of the project. Not a single person, political party or representative has sought this project. Our apple industry will take a major hit, if the project is not stopped,” said Bashir Ahmed Bhat while talking to The Kashmiriyat
Are new railway lines feasible in Kashmir?
More than 90 % of farmers in Jammu & Kashmir are marginal farmers as per official figures. The size of small agricultural landholdings in J&K was estimated at 0.55 hectares by the Agriculture Census 2015-16, but unofficial sources say they are much smaller, 0. 35 hectares or six (6) kanals we can say. In Kashmir Valley, the size is even smaller. During the 2010-2011 Agriculture Census, the average size of operational land holdings in India was 1.15 hectares. This figure was also lower, at 0.62 hectares, for Jammu and Kashmir. Districts in Kashmir Valley had even lower landholding sizes than the state as a whole: Anantnag 0.39 hectares, Kulgam 0.39, Shopian 0.56, Pulwama 0.48, Srinagar 0.31, Budgam 0.43, Baramulla 0.51, Ganderbal 0.37, Bandipora 0.48, and Kupwara 0.51. This figure fell during the 2015-16 Agriculture Census. In the Valley, where most farmers own less than an acre of land, any government policy related to land acquisition, especially for “development projects”, needs to take into account the fragile mountainous environment and climatic conditions as well.
One understands the importance of Baramulla- Srinagar- Udhampur Railway project but to take railway lines to Pahalgam and Kupwara or Uri by sacrificing so many apple orchards and green forests would prove to be disastrous. Kashmiri people would have loved to give their land for this project had their landholdings been huge like we see in states like Madhya Pradesh , Maharashtra, Gujarat or Rajasthan. If someone loses his half acres (4 kanals) of apple farm will he be able to buy a new one or set up a new farm? No, because there is hardly any land availability in the apple producing areas of South and North Kashmir. Infact under the Right to Fair Compensation Act 2013 the affected people would get good compensation but they won’t be able to set up new apple farms as Kashmir valley has meager landholding and our agricultural land is shrinking at a very fast rate.
Conclusion
To make a 1 km highway or Railway line in India , around 1.50 hectares of land is required i.e 30 kanals of land. This means Govt requires around 1000 kanals of land for Baramulla Kupwara railline (33.7 kms). Similarly for Anantnag Bijbehara Pahalgam railway line 2340 kanals of land is required and most of this land is under apple cultivation. On the proposed Awantipura-Shopian railway line which is estimated to be 27.6 kms long, more than 840 kanals of land would be required but most of the land is under apple cultivation. Baramulla Uri rail line will require 1500 kanals of land. In total, this amounts to more than 5500 kanals ( 278 hectares). Will the Govt prefer local economy over development? People will get good money but they will lose their livelihood as well and more land where new apple farms can be developed isn’t available at all. In such a scenario will the Govt revisit their policy on further expansion of railway lines in Kashmir valley?
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