PM to flag off first train in Kashmir Valley

Srinagar, Oct 8 (PTI) The decades old dream of Kashmiris
will come true this Saturday when Prime Minister Manmohan
Singh flags off the first train connecting Srinagar to central
Kashmir during his two-day-long visit to Jammu and Kashmir.

Official sources said the Prime Minister will flag off
the first train from Nowgam (the station for Srinagar) to
Budgam on Saturday.

The Prime Minister will board D.M.U. (diesel multiple
unit) train from Nowgam station as a symbolic gesture, the
sources said.

Though it is a short distance between the two stations,
it will be for the first time that Kashmiris will see a train
running in the valley.

The inauguration of this train service on Saturday was a
part of the plan to connect Baramulla (north kashmir) to
Qazigund (south Kashmir). However, connecting Kashmir Valley
with the rest of the country still remains a distant dream.

The commercial use of the train will take some time to
start, the sources said.

The Srinagar railway station is a stunning three-storeyed
building which has beautifully carved wooden panelling and
chandeliers and is surrounded by landscaped gardens.

During the function, the Prime Minister will be
addressing people and was also likely to make some
announcements regarding the Indo-Pak ties.

His visit coincides with the visit of a business
delegation from Pakistan-occupied Kashmir, who will be in the
state from tomorrow for a week to tie up with businessmen from
Kashmir as well as in Jammu.

The Prime Minister, who will be arriving at Udhampur on
Friday, will first inaugurate the 450 MW Baglihar
hydroelectric project in Doda region.

This will be the second power project to be inaugurated
by the Prime Minister in Jammu and Kashmir. In April this
year, he inaugurated the Dul Hasti power project constructed
by the National Hydro Power Corporation (N.H.P.C.).

The Baglihar project is built on the Chenab river flowing
from Jammu and Kashmir into Pakistan and has been marred by
controversies ever since its inception.

Pakistan had opposed the project on the ground that it
will divert water away from its territory. In 2005, it had
unilaterally approached the World Bank - the third party to
the 1960 Indus Water Treaty between India and Pakistan.

Raymond Lafitte, a Swiss national and professor at the
Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne, was
appointed by the World Bank and he gave a go-ahead to India
for the project after a few minor modifications.

The Baglihar Hydro Electric Project is very crucial to
ensure the sustainable development of the economy of the
people of the state.

This project was conceived in 1992, approved in 1996 and
construction began in 1999. It will have installed capacity of
900 MW when complete. The project is estimated to cost one
billion U.S. dollars.