Post terror attack, Dinanagar’s real estate business picked up

The town gained infamy in June 2015 when three Pakistan-based Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists attacked the only police station here. A gunfight ensued, following which seven people died, including an SP rank officer, Baljit Singh, and the three militants were killed.

Unknown to many, the militants were carrying a rocket launcher, a device that needs a lot of space to be fired, but the terrorists were cramped in a small room, which is why they could not use it. Army experts say, had the rocket launcher been used, it could have caused mayhem in the city. Later, it was buried somewhere near Hoshiarpur, the same place where the bodies of the terrorists, too, were buried. The attack meant real estate prices had fallen, and nobody wanted to live in Dinanagar. But public memory is short, and the memories of the attack faded with time. With it, realtors returned to the city and restarted their businesses.

This town once boasted of being an industrial township. However, down the line, the government stopped giving rebates, including those pertaining to tax, following which industrial growth stagnated. The town was known for lois, shawls, wood industries and conduit pipe manufacturing units. It also experienced growth in mushroom cultivation and brick manufacturing, contributing to the local economy and construction landscape but these businesses are now down by half.

The town is a renowned educational centre. There are more than three dozen schools, big and small, and a dozen colleges. All of them are affiliated with the GNDU, Amritsar. The impact of education is clear on the dominant group of Mahajans, who adapted quickly to the new opportunities. They are now teachers, engineers and administrators. Education also brought revolutionary changes in the occupations of the Mahasha and Arya communities.

The town has a busy railway station on the Pathankot-Gurdaspur line, as many trains going to Jammu from Delhi make a stop here, making it one of the busiest in the region.

However, there is no regular bus stand. There was a proposal to build one, but like other government projects, this too fell victim to officials’ apathy. The town’s only hospital, a Community Health Centre (CHC), is in Singowal. There are no specialist doctors and patients are often referred to Amritsar or Gurdaspur-based hospitals.

The denudation of forests due to the increasing population and urbanisation has also accelerated environmental degradation.