Srinagar: PDP president Mehbooba Mufti on Friday called for a dedicated fruit corridor through a rail link to ensure the movement of horticulture produce from Kashmir to rest of the valley.
In a letter to Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnav, Mufti sought a dedicated railway line for movement of fruit from valley to rest of the country.
She also thanked him for stopping the rail projects passing through the orchards.
“Farmers are not opposed to railway connectivity. On the contrary, a dedicated fruit corridor through a reliable rail network is urgently needed, particularly given the unpredictability and frequent disruptions of the national highway,” the former chief minister wrote in the letter that she shared on her X handle.
“However, development must be balanced with sustainability. It should prioritise the use of barren and uncultivable land rather than destroying scarce productive farmland. A fresh assessment and realignment of the railway projects along unproductive land is therefore the need of the hour,” she said.
Mehbooba also sought rail links from Jammu to the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal region.
“These resource rich and strategically vital areas have long suffered due to unreliable surface connectivity, severely restricting their economic and developmental potential,” she added.
The PDP chief conveyed her “sincere appreciation” for keeping the three proposed railway projects in the Kashmir valley in abeyance.
This decision has brought much needed relief to lakhs of agrarian families whose livelihoods stood directly threatened, she said.
“Like rest of India, Kashmir too lives in its villages, where most farmers are marginal landholders with no alternative source of income. This hardship is compounded by widespread unemployment among educated youth, forcing entire families to depend solely on agriculture for survival,” she aaid.
Mehbooba said that in recent years, farmers have shifted towards high-density and capital-intensive cultivation.
“With the projects merely kept in abeyance, a constant fear prevails that their hard-earned investments may be rendered futile,” she added.
It would therefore be in the “larger public interest to scrap these projects in their present alignment, Mehbooba said while urging authorities to reassess them in a manner that safeguards precious fertile land.
“Such a step would not only remove prevailing anxiety but also protect the livelihoods of nearly one and a half million families,” she added.