Jammu: The fruit growers of Kashmir are excited as a parcel train containing 24 tonnes of cherry left Katra station for Mumbai on Saturday, marking the first such initiative which was described by the Jammu division of the Northern Railway as “historic”.
The parcel train, which will reach Mumbai’s Bandra station within 30 hours, was earlier scheduled for June 3 but was advanced to facilitate two more indents for loading of cherries, one from Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra station and another from Jammu station, in the coming days, a railway official said.
The fruit growers in Kashmir welcomed the initiative and hoped that the much-awaited Kashmir rail link will be connected to the railway network soon to facilitate transportation of the perishable fruits directly from the valley to various destinations across the country.
“Today will be counted as a historic day in the recently created Jammu division of Northern Railway as railways took a unique initiative to transport 24 tonnes of cherry from Katra to Bandra Terminus,” Senior Divisional Commercial Manager (DCM), Northern Railway, Jammu, Uchit Singhal said.
He said it has been possible after a lot of discussion among the Railway authorities, fruit growers’ associations and horticulture department of Jammu Kashmir.
“After this success, Jammu division has two more indents for loading of cherries, one from Katra and one from Jammu, in the coming days to transport the produce to different destination stations,” Singhal said.
He said this is a good beginning and the initiative would be a win-win situation for both railways and fruit growers and in turn the economy of Jammu and Kashmir.
Ali Mohammad, a member of New Kashmir Fruit Association Srinagar, who reached Katra to oversee the loading of cherry said this is a very good initiative by the Northern Railways as it will not only reduce the time taken by the perishable produce to reach its destination but will also bring down the transportation charges.
“We brought cherries in trucks from Kashmir and loaded it in the parcel train before it left for its destination in Mumbai at 10 am,” he said.
However, he said they are eagerly waiting for the start of the direct rail service between Kashmir and the rest of the country so that the produce is loaded at the train in different stations in the valley, bringing more respite to the fruit producers.
“We request the Prime Minister Narendra Modi to inaugurate the rail service to Kashmir as soon as possible since the track is ready for a long time now. Earlier, we used to book the parcel train from Amritsar and this is for the first time we have booked the cargo from Katra and hope that the day is not far when we book it from stations in the valley itself,” he said.
The Prime Minister was supposed to inaugurate the direct train service from Katra in Jammu to Srinagar early this month but the function was put on hold due to inclement weather. No new dates were announced for the inauguration so far. (With PTI Inputs)
