Vinod Kumar
According to the mythological beliefs, the Kashmir Valley, located at the foothills of the Himalayan mountain ranges was a huge natural lake once upon a time. It was converted into a beautiful valley by Maharishi Kashyap by cutting the gap in the hills at Baramulla (Varaha-mula) & thus draining the water out. This very beautiful valley, full of the lakes, sprawling gardens, flora & fauna, snowy mountainsand green pastures all around, is also the origin of river Jhelum or its tributaries. The great poet Amir Khusro and Mughal Emperor Jahangir used to recite”If there is heaven on the earth; it is this, it is this and it is this only”.
The Climate, Foreign Travellers, Invasion & Transportation means
The south-west monsoon while advancing north-wards causes heavy to very heavy rainfall at some places in the country for about three or four months. Yet this monsoon becomes almost inactive after colliding with the Pir-Panjal ranges of middle Himalayas before entering into the Kashmir valley. The winter & autumn rains/snowfall in Kashmir valley and northern India are caused by Western Disturbances which originate from Europe or Siberian region of Russia. The valley is extremely cold with sub-zero temperatures all aroundduring the winter though climate is mostly dry.Kashmir Valley has been a major attraction for the foreign traders, tourists and explorers since ancient times.
Similarly by 1608 AD, the first ship of the British East India Company embarked atSurat port in India during the reigns of Mughal emperor Jahangir and desired trading with them. The irony is that this private company along with thetrading gradually uprooted the Mughal Sultanate from India and became the rulers. The trekking, horse ridings were the only facilities of travelling.
Before 1947, the British Government had carried out lot of infrastructural development and the construction of Railway lines etc. in the country which are going to be discussed further from its inception till connecting the Kashmir valley by the year 2025.
Formal launch of passenger Railway trains
On 16 April 1853, the first passenger train was chugged off In India between Thane and Boribandar (Mumbai), which is the northern end of the Konkan region too. Thereafter, the British Government accelerated the rapid development ofRailways diligently in all the four directions of the undivided country. The construction of thousands of small & large bridges, roads, tunnels etc. to build railway network was carried out at a very fast pace;the localswere employed causing enormous socio-economic development. Consequently an easy, comfortable and cheap mode of transport was available in the country, proving to be very popular for the saving of time & money besides being very conducive in the integration of the country.
The first train reached the Princely state of J&K
Consequently by 1897, Jammu city was also connected by a Railway network in India. This Railway line passed through the cities of undivided Punjab like Amritsar-Lahore-Wazirabad-Sialkot and entered the princely state at RanbirSinghpura (R.S. Pura) before reaching Jammu. The old Jammu station was situated on the left bank of the riverTawibetween HotelAsia and BikramChowk; some ruins of the same are still visible. Considering the prevailing conditions in the country,reaching Jammu by train in 44 years (1853 to 1897) would not have been an easy task because the route of the Railway also included the construction of mighty bridges across the main rivers of Punjab like Sutlej, Beas, Ravi etc. It was certainly a commendable progress achieved during those days if compared with the modern available technology.
Maharaja Pratap Singh wanted to connect Kashmir valley by Rail
The then Maharaja of the state Pratap Singhji wanted the Kashmir valley also to be linked by a Railway line at the earliest after the linking of Jammu city asthe road from Jammu to the valley was not available until then. The terrain used to be very long tedious and dangerous too.First the rough hills of Shivalik ranges, ascending to Patnitop ranges and later continuous descent till crossing the river Chenab near Ramban. There wereproblems of dense forests, rugged mountains and snowfall during winters. Thereafter crossing the Pir-Panjal mountain range through Banihal pass and entering the valley was a herculean task. Again considerable descending till Verinag (origin of the river Jhelum) was definitely a very difficult trekking; beyond imagination.
British survey to Kashmir Valley for a Railway line
The British government studied three plans/surveys to connect the Kashmir Valley by Rail.
The easiest and cheapest rail route to approach Srinagar was found to be from a place near Abbottabad city (now in Pakistan) via the cities of Muzaffarabad, Uri, Baramulla of the then princely state along the banks of river Jhelum. But under this plan, Srinagar could not be connected to Jammuwhich may not have been approved by Maharaja.
The second plan was to reach the valley from Jammu via Akhnoor-Reasi-Arnas-Mohar-Gul-Gulabagadh and crossing the Pir Panjal mountain ranges through thetunnels. Nevertheless as all these places were not connected by any road network till that time, this route was not feasible to build this Railway link. The local transportation was only by trekking the footpaths and supply of food and essential items or building materials was carried through ponies and mules etc. It implies that no railway project can be built or completed on time without a road network.
Under the third plan, the Railway line would have passed through the Shivalik ranges of Jammu-Udhampur-Chenaini-Shudh Mahadev and thereafter Khilaini and Dodahills to cross the PirPanjal ranges by the tunnels to reach a place near Kokernag in the valley. Crossing the river Chenab was a big challenge on this alignment too besides the available topography of the region as well. There would have been many other technical, geological and construction challenges besides construction of long tunnels or financial constraints etc. Moreover it was a proposal to design it as narrow or meter gauge line only. An opportunity to see the glimpses of these Railwaydrawings/maps, prepared by the British surveyors is available in the archives. It is beyond imagination to see the efforts made by British engineers to produce such maps those days.I still remember that Udhampur was spelled as Oodampore on these maps.
TRAGEDY OF PARTITION
The Railway system of north-western and north-eastern regions in India was immensely disrupted after the partition besides suffering many other innumerable losses to life and property. Consequently the first Railway line connecting the princely state of Jammu and Kashmir was also confined to the pages of history after September 1947.
I visited Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine for the first time with my friends in August 1972, after graduating from the University of Roorkee (now IIT) and been selected for the Indian Air Force. The train used to ply till Pathankot-Kathua only though the new Jammu railway station was almost ready. After returning home, my grandmother told me that she had gone to Jammu from Jagadhri (now in Haryana) by a train to visit Shri Amarnathji shrine in 1945. She returned to Jagadhri after visiting a famous Shiva temple in Sialkot city; the train fare from Jammu to Sialkot was only 2.5 annas those days.
Before the partition, the trains used to ply till Mukerian (40 km before Pathankot) which was extended till Pathankot and later to Kathua. Fortunately, in November 1972, Jammu city was again connected by Rail andthe then Prime Minister Smt. Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone for the construction of Jammu-Udhampur Railway line in April 1983 which was to pass mostly through the geologically very complex and inaccessible Shivalik hills on the left bank of the river Tawi. Probably there was a plan to extend this Railway line up to the Kashmir valley via Katra. By April 2005, Udhampur city was also connected by the Rail while Udhampur-Katra line was still under construction. The Katra Railway station was inaugurated by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in July 2014.
The Jammu Srinagar road link built around 1925 passed through very difficult terrains and was initially a single lane road; widened to double lane around 1964. This is a very vulnerable link from strategic point of view too.During the winter season and due to heavy snowfall in the Pir-Panjal ranges, travelling to the valley was possible only from May to November in whole of a year. After availability of the twin Jawahar Tunnels, the cart road was closed from 1956 onwards. Now Gujjar-Bakarwals use it but also the Jawahar Tunnels are almost defunct.
Additional connectivity to the state of J&K was necessary as was found after the wars with China & Pakistan in 1962 and 1971 respectively. The existing Pathankot-Jammu highway and the Railway line are running close to the international borders with Pakistan. The Dhar-Udhampur link was established as second line of defence after crucial 1971 war. The Manali-Leh link is also available and continuously being improved consequent upon the Kargil war in 1999.
Approval to connect Katra to Qazigund (valley) by Rail.
Technically it was the most difficult task of connecting the valley especially crossing the Main Boundry Fault (MBF) near Katra, Chenab Bridge and the long tunnels across Pir-Panjal mountain ranges. In 2002, during the regime of the then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and under the prevailing political circumstances of the state of J&K, the responsibility of building this Railway line was entrusted to the two public sector undertakings under the Ministry of Railways; Konkan Railway (KRCL) and IRCON while final survey of the line was still in progress.The Railway works in the valley had already begun; the government had declared it as a national project and had also set an impossible target to complete it by August 2008. This was such a project that even its project cost could not be estimated properly. The absence of road network in remote areas by which the Railway line passed was a big curse besides militancy. Therefore Govt. of India agreed to build this link on the condition of cost + 10% mark-up.
First Blast at Guni Tunnel (T-1)
On 19-06-2003, the then Minister of Railways Nitish Kumar inaugurated this tunnel in the presence of Northern and Konkan Railway officers but the irony is that it proved to be the last link in completing the project due to many technical and other challenges.
The Kashmir valley is going to be connected to the rest of the country in 2025 by a Railway network and a long awaited dream is going to be cherished. Inter-alia the road networks that have been built in the last 15-20 years, connecting some most remote villages of districtReasi and Ramban are a wonderful gift by the Railways to the state of J&K and would have never been built timely if Rail project was not there.
Benefits from the Watal Gala Road Tunnel
The approach road to the left bank of the world’s tallest Chenab Bridge passes through this 400 meter long tunnel which was dug in a hurry without many investigations. Its construction not only reduced the distance to reach the bridge site by 6 km but also saved the cutting of about 6000 trees. Now this tunnel is definitely going to be beneficial in mining the huge Lithium deposits found in the Reasi area.
It is but for the approach roads built by Railways that immense development of remote villages like Bakkal, Kaudi, Judda, Surukot, Dugga, Sawalkot, Ind, Barala, Dharam and Sumbaretc has taken place. General masses are really happy and beneficiary of it.
FURTHER ADVICE
After the Delhi-Jammu-Srinagar railway link is established, tourism in the valley will increase immensely. There may be however some negative impact on theeconomy ofJammu region. Now there is a need for the Indian Railways to consider providing popular RO-RO service (ROLL-ON ROLL-OFF) between Jammu & Srinagar like provided by Konkan Railway in hilly sections. It will certainly reduce the highway traffic and consequently the pollution, which shall be in the larger national interests. Also the Shri Amarnathji Shrine Board (SASB) should look-into the valuable suggestions provided by me time to time in the past to improve the routes to Shri Amarnathji Shrine for smooth and accident free pilgrimage.
(The author was executive Director (Projects) from Reasi in 2010)
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