In the idyllic village of Dirhama, surrounded by sprawling apple orchards and paddy fields, residents are rallying against a proposed railroad project by the railway authorities, which cuts through the area. 

After neighbouring Shopian and Pulwama districts, the area, just a short drive away from Anantnag’s Bijbehra town, emerged as a new epicentre of resistance against the building of a railroad. 

The proposed Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam railway line passes through large tracts of farmland, affecting the livelihood of hundreds of marginal farmers. 

“Most of the people in the area live off the land. The proposed railroad poses a serious threat to our livelihood”, said Mohammad Amin, whose horticulture land, comprising 50 percent of his holding, is set to be affected by the railway line. 

Last year, Union Minister Ashwani Kumar apprised Parliament that approval had been granted for the Final Location Survey of five railway lines in Jammu and Kashmir. The lines include the doubling of the Baramulla-Banihal section (135.5 km), Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam (77.5 km), Baramulla-Uri (50 km), Sopore-Kupwara (33.7 km), Awantipora-Shopian (27.6 km). 

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Sources told businessline that two railway lines Anantnag-Bijbehra-Pahalgam and Awantipora-Shopian are likely to affect around 280 hectares of farmland. Agriculture serves as the primary livelihood for around 65–70% of the region’s population, with the fruit industry alone providing direct or indirect support to nearly 3.5 million. Within this, the fruit industry alone supports around 3.5 million people, either directly or indirectly. Amidst ballooning youth unemployment, the horticulture industry remains a crucial lifeline for thousands of educated youths. 

“In the absence of government jobs, the horticulture industry has become our only means of livelihood. Now, the government seems intent on stanching that as well”, said Rameez Ahmad, a Postgraduate student. 

Ahmad believes that the railroad would cripple the rural economy. 

Other protest

On November 20, scores of farmers in quaint villages of Monghama and Babhara in Pulwama district, some 35 kms south of Srinagar, held peaceful demonstrations against the railroad running through their farmland. Earlier, in April, the social media burst forth with videos showing distressed women farmers in several apple rich villages of neighboring Shopian district demanding the shifting of railway lines. 

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Javed Ahmad, the village head of Babhara, expressed concern that the construction of the railroad would leave many marginal farmers with no option but to resort to begging.

Political anguish  

Raising the issue in Parliament Lok Sabha member, Aga Syed Ruhullah Mehdi equated the construction of railroad with a colonial project. 

“There is no local demand for the construction of such railway lines”, he informed the House. 

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Senior CPI(M) leader Mohmmad Yousuf Tarigmi told businessline that such railway lines would adversely impact the livelihood of lakhs of people associated with the horticulture and agriculture sector. 

“We welcome direct trains between Delhi and Srinagar as it will promote trade and other allied activities, but laying the railway lines through apple orchards and paddy fields will impact the sustenance of farmers”, Tarigami said .