On track

The Jammu and Kashmir railway line,conceived in another age,and re-imagined several times,proved to be as much a marvel as difficult. The spectacle of tunnel after tunnel and bridge after bridge is a toast to the human engineering acumen. Next month,the regions of Jammu and the Kashmir Valley,connected by a solitary road link through the Pir Panjal mountains now,are set to come closer in time and space. The 11-km-long tunnel between Banihal in the Jammu region and Qazigund in Kashmir will shorten the distance to 17.5 km from the 35 km on road. And it will take all of six minutes to cross the tunnel by train. On the verge of completion,it will be Indias longest transport tunnel and Asias second longest,situated 440 m below the existing Jawahar Tunnel used by vehicles currently.

Jammu and Kashmir needed its rail link for humanitarian and socio-economic reasons,cut off by geography as many parts of the state are from the rest of the country and each other. It is not surprising,therefore,that the idea of the railway is more than a century old,although the first of its four sections went operational only in 2005. With the 25 km Udhampur-Katra leg expected to be completed along with the Banihal-Qazigund sub-section of the Katra-Qazigund leg by December,the focus will be on the most difficult segment of the project the 111.5 km Katra-Banihal stretch,which has a 2017 deadline and needs 31 tunnels and 62 bridges,with a bridge over the Chenab at 359 m that will make it the highest railway structure in the world.

The Jamp;K railway will,of course,languish as a standalone service till its integration with the national rail network. But let alone the benefits the railway will bring to Jamp;K even before that integration,the primary construction work,by building approach roads and tunnels to carry men and material,has already improved socio-economic conditions in the surrounding areas by providing locals mobility and jobs,infrastructure and connectivity. The one thing Jamp;K needs above all else is growth and development. When that is provided,the political reality can more readily veer towards the uneventful and tranquil.