Shopian, Dec 17: The ongoing land marking for the proposed Pulwama–Shopian railway line has triggered strong outrage across several villages in south Kashmir’s Shopian district.
Amid bone-piercing winter chill on Wednesday afternoon, scores of farmers in Keegam and Check Nil Trichil came out of their homes and staged a protest against the proposed railway line. Farmers said their orchards are their only source of income and warned that routing the railway line through them would leave them without livelihoods.
“We appeal to the government to save our livelihoods,” said Nazir Ahmad, a farmer.
The demarcation exercise, marked by the installation of short poles along the proposed alignment, has sparked anxiety among farmers who fear the project will cut through productive apple orchards and paddy fields that support thousands of families. Over the past week, officials have visited dozens of villages across Pulwama and Shopian to mark the corridor.
“The area is undergoing a survey, with poles being erected to mark the land,” said Wali Mohammad, another farmer, terming the exercise deeply distressing for families whose livelihoods depend on the land.
Senior PDP leader Raja Waheed, who stood with the protesters, told Greater Kashmir that the line cuts through orchards and agricultural fields, affecting thousands of farmers.
“The line could be laid through barren land,” he said, suggesting an alternative route through Rambiara. “It will save thousands of kanals of fertile land,” he added. Several orchard owners said the latest round of surveying has rekindled months of anxiety, noting that the alignment is being examined for the fourth time.
“Our land was surveyed last year, but after protests broke out at several places, the process was halted,” said a young farmer, adding that the fresh survey has again left them distressed.
Protesting farmers cautioned that they would oppose any move to convert agricultural farms into railway corridors. “Our orchards are our sole source of livelihood, and we will not allow these poles to become railway tracks,” they said.