Ferozepur to incur revenue loss

Anirudh Gupta

Ferozepur, February 7

After losing several areas that were merged in other districts several times since Independence, the decks have now been cleared for bifurcation of Ferozepur Railway Division.

The Railways is all set to create Jammu Division. The process for which has been set into motion by the ministry.

The division now has 1,850-km-long rail network and it was set up in 1862 and is one of the oldest and biggest amongst the 67 divisions in the country with 239 railway stations under its jurisdiction. Now, 612 of rail network will be included in the Jammu Division ranging from Bhogpur in Jalandhar and Verka in Batala upwards till Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, several important railway stations including Jammu, Tawi, Pathankot, Kangra, Joginder Nagar besides others are likely to be part of the new entity.

DRM Anuj Prakash said that a team of officials from the ministry had arrived here to work out on the nitty-gritty of the proposal under which a sprawling divisional headquarters costing Rs 125 crore is likely to be set up in Jammu.

Sources said the decision was also aimed at bolstering the rail network in the Kashmir valley which at the moment was being managed by Ferozepur division.

Officials said due to socio-political reasons, the Centre was keen to extend the rail network till Leh-Ladakh from a strategic point of view as it will also ensure swift movement of the armed forces.

As this area includes lot of places of religious and tourist significance like Palampur, Srinagar, Mata Vaishno Devi besides others most of the time senior railway officials here remained occupied in protocol duties due to frequent visits by senior rail and ministry officials hampered day-to-day work.

“We are in the process to finalise the posting of staff for the smooth functioning of the new division. It was unwieldy for them to manage such a vast division,” he added while justifying the move.

Sources said that hundreds of residents belonging to valley, including women serving in the division here, are likely to be shifted to Jammu.

Earlier, several women employees had submitted a request to Dr Farookh Abdullah during his visit to Ferozepur some time back for transferring them back to Jammu and Kashmir.

However, local residents feel that as this area was already reeling under a financial crunch, the bifurcation of the division will further add to the woes of the traders and local service providers. “Local businesses will take a hit as number of employees posted here will come down resulting in revenue loss,” said Ashwani Mehta, president, Beopar Mandal.

Earlier, speculation was rife regarding shifting of Ferozepur division to Jalandhar. However, the proposal was shelved following protests by residents following which another plan to set up another division in Jammu was considered and eventually finalised.