Nearly 43 years after the first railway chugged into the tiny railway station of Jammu, the Railways Ministry has decided to create a separate Railway Division for J&K with headquarters at Jammu. Work on the partition of Firozpur Railway Division has already begun, and Additional Divisional Railway Manager who will be at the head of the contemplated Jammu Division, has already taken charge of his office and is at work. In all probability, the Jammu Railway Division will begin functioning formally from April 1, 2016. Work on the project is taken up on war footing. Senior railway officers in Firozpur and New Delhi are expeditiously working on the bifurcation of the Firozpur Division and its nitty-gritty are being resolved at full speed. About 3000 to 3500 employees of Firozpur Division belonging to J&K and Himachal will be shifted to Jammu after the bifurcation is completed.
This is great news for the people of the State and for the tourists, pilgrims and armed forces personnel. Hitherto, control of Northern Railways remained with Firozpur Division which was created before the independence and was allowed to continue even though after partition it had come very close to Pakistan border. With extension of railway to Jammu and Kashmir, and also in view of vast expansion schemes of J&K Railways under contemplation, the Firozpur Division had expressed its difficulty in effectively administering a vast network of Northern Railway. This was one of the reasons why the Railways Ministry decided to establish separate Jammu Railway Division. The element of border security has also been working behind the idea of extended railway line from Srinagar to Kargil and Leh, Baramulla to Uri, Kupwara and Lolab and from Jammu to Rajouri and Poonch. Survey of Jammu-Poonch and Bramulla-Kupwara-Lolab has already been conducted and two tunnels at Gagangir and Zoji La are under construction that will enable rail connectivity to Leh. Keeping in mind this extended railway map of Jammu and Kashmir, it is in fitness of things that the Railways Minister had very wisely taken advance steps to set up the Divisional Headquarter at Jammu.
The day has come that Jammu Railway Station will get a completely new face lift. We had been repeatedly pleading for modernization of Jammu railway station which is very obnoxious at the moment. However, now that development of a new railway station is under careful consideration, we would like to implore upon railway authorities of Jammu Division that Jammu Railway Station has the potential to become India’s largest and most attractive railway station provided there is ingenuity, aesthetic sense and dedication among the planners and engineers. They have to imagine that Jammu railway station will be handling largest crowds and enormous quantity of goods.
A new large building with the estimated cost of Rs 125 crore will be constructed to house the Divisional Headquarters just closer to Jammu Railway Station. The site for the purpose has already been identified by the authorities. The Union Railway Ministry has already indicated to keep separate budgetary provisions for the creation of this new Railway Division at Jammu in the coming Rail Budget.
Jammu and Kashmir will be greatly benefited by the establishment of new Division. Firstly, many opportunities of employment of youth will come up in the entire Division. Secondly, a host of contractors who render auxiliary services connected with rail transport will get large contracts and thus improve their financial position. It will boost goods carrier services to maximum and the transportation of consumer goods will come down. It will also brighten chances of Railway Ministry establishing rail coach factory in Jammu and create thousands of jobs for the youth of the State. The most effective benefit will be that food grains and other supplies will be delivered at lesser rates and with least hassles at the doorsteps of people living in far flung areas. And above all, it will do away with the total chaos of present railway station with enormous crowds swarming from all parts of the country
Follow our WhatsApp channel