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| PM’s visit deserved respect | | | | We understand that basic genuine issues need to be addressed in their own essence but when there is a big hearted gesture from a person of high esteem that needs to be reciprocated in same manner. It was unfortunate that the arrival of Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh in Jammu and Kashmir last week to inaugurate to two key projects –the Baglihar hydro-electric power project and Kashmir train service –set to change economic destiny of this state. The intra-Kashmir train has put Kashmir finally on India’s railway map. The distance it runs is no doubt short – just 66 km. Yet its significance is far from small. It is part of a larger project that will see Qazigund linked to Baramullah, the eventual plan being to extend it to connect with the country’s vast rail network. This will improve Kashmir’s connectivity with the rest of India. Kashmiris wanting to travel outside the Valley have hitherto been dependent on flights, which are expensive and beyond the reach of the ordinary Kashmiri, and road travel, which is cumbersome and restricted during winter. With trains chugging in and out of the Valley, Kashmiris will feel less isolated from the rest of India. It will boost trade as well. While the rail network is still some way from connecting the Valley to the Indian rail network, a first step towards achieving that has been taken. As for the Baglihar project, it will give Kashmir 450 MW of power, reducing its expenditure on purchase of the same from the Centre. The project could give a boost to industrialisation of the state. The two projects have been completed against all odds. The rail line runs through difficult terrain. It has also been constructed despite violence from militants. As for the Baglihar project, it ran into trouble with Pakistan raising objections to its construction, arguing that the project violated the Indus Waters Treaty. But with the World Bank overruling most of Pakistan’s objections, even as it asked India to lower the height of the dam, the path to the completion and commissioning of the project was cleared. It is unfortunate that separatists in the Valley have greeted the inauguration of the two landmark projects with protests. The separatists claim to represent the interests of the Kashmiris. But their obstructionist approach to anything India does, including programmes and projects that aim at improving the lives of the Kashmiri people, indicates that they care little for the betterment of the daily lives of the people. Much money and hard work has gone into the construction of the rail line and the Baglihar project. Security for the two projects should be tight as militants are likely to target them. |
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