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JK: LG Manoj Sinha Flags Off 8-Coach Parcel Train Service From Budgam To Delhi
J-K: LG Manoj Sinha Flags Off 8-Coach Parcel Train Service From Budgam To Delhi
Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha has flagged off an 8-coach Parcel Train Service from Budgam to Delhi as the inauguration happened at a time when all fruit mandis across Kashmir are shut in protest of the continuous closure national highway.
A big win for the railway and consumers and producers of Kashmir, as Lieutenant Governor of Jammu and Kashmir Manoj Sinha on Monday flagged off a new daily parcel train from Budgam to Delhi. The launch of a dedicated daily parcel train service from Budgam railway station, Kashmir, to the national capital represents a significant boost for the region's horticulture sector, particularly apple growers.
The inaugurations happened at a time when National Highway NH44 had been almost non-functional for the last three weeks, and that too during the apple harvesting peak season.
Announced amid the peak apple harvest season, the service aims to address longstanding logistical challenges caused by frequent disruptions on the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway (NH-44), such as landslides and closures due to adverse weather. These issues have led to spoilage, delayed deliveries, and hundreds of crores of financial losses to farmers transporting perishable goods by road.
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The train is expected to provide a faster, more reliable, and cost-effective alternative, ensuring fresher produce reaches major markets in the national capital, and that too in all weather. The L-G emphasised that the cargo train service will boost the local economy by providing an alternative mode of transportation.
LG Manoj Sinha said, “I believe this train will contribute a lot to the economic upliftment. We know that due to heavy rainfall, the national highway gets closed sometimes, and it used to cause losses to the fruit growers. I think in the coming days there will be a big change in Kashmir because of the Indian railways. The railways have started a very good service and I want to thank them for it. At less cost, the goods of farmers from Kashmir will reach the markets in the rest of the country.”
The train will operate daily from Budgam to Adarsh Nagar railway station in New Delhi. It is a time-tabled service, departing from Budgam at 6:00 am, making stops at Bari Brahmana, Jammu, before reaching Adarsh Nagar in Delhi in 23 hours. The train primarily consists of 8 parcel vans dedicated to transporting fruits, and will carry approximately 180-200 metric tons of apples every day initially. Transport costs are expected to drop by about half compared to road haulage.
Divisional Railway Manager Vivek Kumar said, “The running of this train is a historic movement and a revolutionary step. It will help Jammu and Kashmir's fruit products, for which the state is known. This will help to take the produce from here in less time and in lesser cost, mainly when we have bad weather conditions here. We witnessed landslides, the road is closed, produce is getting spoiled. We introduced this service, which will take 160-170 produce from here timely manner. This 8-coach service will definitely it will help fruit growers, overall industry will get boots, we have opened booking centers at Anantnag where there is no limit on loading. Through the road, their heavy uncertainty, but this service has more certainty.”
Also Read: PM Modi To Inaugurate Amrit Bharat Express And Vande Bharat Train Services For Saharsa
Faster market access will help maintain quality, fetch better prices, and stimulate the sector. Officials project it could benefit over 50,000 apple growers directly. If more trains are introduced or the goods-faring capacity is increased, it will revolutionize the Kashmir economy. Railways said that they were thinking about increasing the frequency of such trains because production is high.
An additional member of the Indian railway board said, “I congratulate Northern Railway that they provided this service at a critical juncture at a time when the road is blocked and there are difficulties. This is a regular service, it will run daily, GST is reduced, and it's expected demand will go high for consumer products, and Kashmir consumers will have a sustained source, and same train will go back with apples, so both consumers and producers will benefit. We will work in the frequency of not this place, but from other places like Anantnag, as the demand is there, we will explore other places also because we are aware that more than 2 million tons of apple is produced every year, which is a huge volume, so we will try to contribute to that too. The growers are happy, but they are also distressed because of the lack of conjunction on the highways; they are requesting to give more services.”
The horticulture sector is the backbone of Kashmir's economy, supporting around 80 percent of the Kashmir population and accounting for 10-15 percent of Jammu and Kashmir's GDP. As the apple industry is valued at over Rs. 15-20 crore, the train service is expected to significantly boost the local economy and restore confidence among growers and traders, but the farmers are demanding more services of a good train, as this time the national highway has been very unpredictable, and already farmers have lost approximately 4 hundred crores.
Bashir Ahmad Bashir Kashmir Fruit Association president said, “We have around 22 to 25 thousand metric tons of Apple production now in the Kashmir Valley. This is the peak season until November end, it will remain the same. The national highway was closed for so long and still is congested, and it has created a lot of problems for the Grovers.”
We had requested the government long ago that a good train should be started, and now, since it's been started, it's a great step. We are very thankful to the government and the LG for taking such a step. The trains will go to Jammu and Delhi. But we have around 1000 trucks ready to dispatch every single day, and the problem will not be solved by this parcel train a day; we want more, at least at the time of this peak harvesting season,” Bashir added.
The farmers said, “This peaceful protest is held in Fruit Mandi, Srinagar, against the continued blockage of the Srinagar-Jammu National Highway NH-44 since last more than 20 days, resulting in complete damage to Apple/Pear and other early varieties of fresh fruits laden trucks which are stranded on various spots of the National Highway NH-44. Protests have also been held in all other Fruit mandis of the Valley as well, and Mandis are kept shut for the day.”
The horticulture industry is the biggest industry of Kashmir and is the backbone of the GDP of Jammu and Kashmir. Around 15,000 crore business is from the horticulture industry, which amounts to 15 percent of the GDP. But this year, the industry had a big setback with unexpected weather and closures of highways.
The highway opened after 15 days, but still has congestion, a truck that takes 8-10 hours to reach Jammu; this time reaches in 24-28 hours, which caused huge losses to farmers. To mark the protest of authorities not taking steps for the opening of highways today, all Fruit Mandis across the Kashmir valley remained shut, and in every Mandi, a peaceful sit-in protest was held.
Source: ZeeNews
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