Srinagar, Feb 06 : People’s Democratic Party (PDP) chief Mehbooba Mufti on Friday lauded the Centre’s move to put on hold three railway projects in Kashmir, but urged the government to permanently scrap the current alignments and reroute them to save the Valley’s “fruit bowl” from destruction.
In a letter to Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw, accessed by news agency Kashmir News Service (KNS), the former Jammu and Kashmir chief minister said while the “abeyance” has provided temporary relief, the looming threat to fertile land must be eliminated by adopting a new plan that uses only barren terrain.
Mufti said the existing National Highway—a vital lifeline—remains “repeatedly choked and unreliable,” causing enormous losses to farmers every season. She pitched for the rail lines to be realigned as a dedicated “fruit corridor” on non-cultivable land, arguing this would ensure both connectivity and protection of livelihoods.
“The temporary suspension has offered momentary respite, but the uncertainty continues to distress farming families and puts their long-term investments at risk,” she wrote.
The PDP president highlighted that agriculture and horticulture sustain nearly two-thirds of Kashmir’s population, with most farmers being marginal landholders having no alternative income. She cautioned that keeping the projects paused, and not scrapped, instills fear among those who have shifted to high-density cultivation.
Mufti also raised the issue of “regional imbalance,” seeking the Railway Minister’s “kind consideration” for rail connectivity to the Chenab Valley and Pir Panjal region, which she said remain constrained due to absence of rail links.
“The farmers are not opposed to railway connectivity… However, development must be balanced with sustainability. It should prioritise the use of barren and uncultivable land rather than destroy scarce productive farmland,” she stated.
The communication ends with an appeal for “sympathetic consideration and prompt positive action in the larger public interest.” (KNS)
