Kangra rail line poll issue again, locals feel cheated
Ravinder Sood
Palampur, May 15
This time too, conversion of the Kangra rail line into broad gauge has become a poll issue. BJP leaders have issued statements to fulfil the promise that both Shanta Kumar and Ram Swaroop could not. There is deep resentment among locals on the matter.
Railway Minister Piyush Goel had categorically stated that the Centre had no plan to convert the rail line into broad gauge or connect the track with Mandi town. The minister had said he would make efforts to get the ‘heritage site’ tag for this track by approaching UNESCO. Despite that, BJP and Congress leaders are promising to get the track extended up to Mandi.
The BJP during its campaign for the 2014 elections had promised Kangra residents that the narrow gauge rail line would be converted into broad gauge and Pathankot linked with Leh via Manali. Shanta Kumar and Ram Swaroop had then assured the people that if the party came to power at the Centre, it would take concrete steps in this direction.
Earlier too, Kangra residents had received a jolt when the Railways decided to connect the line with Leh through Bilaspur instead of Kangra. During the rainy season last year, train services on the track had remained suspended for almost a month because of poor maintenance and lack of funds for repair/replacement of old bridges and the retaining walls.
The British had laid this track in 1932, linking all religious towns in Kangra and parts of Mandi district. The condition of the track between Pathankot and Jogindernagar in the past decade has turned from bad to worse. With the manifold increase in population and tourist footfall in Kangra, the Railways has failed to live up to the expectations of the people.
Narrow gauge
- One of the last narrow gauge lines to be built in India, it’s one of the least known
- It lies in the sub-Himalayan region of the Kangra Valley and covers a distance of 164 km from Pathankot in Punjab to Jogindernagar in Himachal Pradesh
- It connects shrines like Jwalamukhi, Kangra, Chamunda, Chintpurni and Baijnath’s ancient Shiva temple
- The Kangra valley railway comes under the Firozepur Division of Northern Railway
