Only rail link between Amritsar-Mumbai snaps

Neeraj Bagga

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Tribune News Service

Amritsar, July 7

Following floods in parts of Maharashtra, the Railways cancelled the Mumbai-Amritsar-Mumbai train, the only link between the holy city and financial capital. The decision will surely hurt business ties with Maharashtra and Gujarat.

Various type of textile from Bhiwandi in Mumbai and Surat in Gujarat is transported via road and train to the holy city. Traders said the cargo and public movement was hit with the development. Joda fabric manufactured in the city is exported to Afghanistan via Mumbai.

A yarn manufacturer Kamal Dalmia said, “Imported material from China and other countries also come here via Mumbai. The same train also goes through Surat.”

Though widespread trade ties between the two cities were affected, there was a good business opportunity for the airlines having link between Amritsar and Mumbai.

Another trader Amrit Lal Jain said they had been lobbying with the Union Railway Ministry for providing alternate rail route between Amritsar and Mumbai.

He said the new 25 km rail line between Ferozepur-Patti to be laid at the cost of Rs 147 crore was sanctioned in the Pink Book 2013-14. “It will link Majha with Malwa regions of Punjab. Patti-Makhu rail link will shorten the distance by 270 km between Mumbai and Amritsar. It will curtail the cost of cargo being transported to Gujarat and Maharashtra from Punjab and Jammu and Kashmir,” he added.

He said the announcement of Patti-Makhu 80 km line during the rail Budget 2013 brought cheers among importers, exporters and traders, but delay in its implementation really hurt them.

As per the rough estimates, as many as 20,000 containers of basmati rice valued at Rs 6,000 crore are exported from the holy city via Kandla port in Gujarat. Presently, exporters prefer to ferry the merchandise through trucks as they save Rs 5,000 on a truckload of 24 tonnes in comparison to a goods train.

Jain said the distance between Ferozepur and Amritsar would decrease from 196 km to 82 km. It would open new markets and make travelling convenient.

“The Patti-Makhu line will link Amritsar with the country’s financial capital Mumbai, besides Gujarat. It will prompt exporters to switch over to freight trains,” he added.

‘This link would promote the overall development of the entire backward border belt of Jammu and Kashmir, Punjab, Rajasthan and Gujarat. The railway link will connect Srinagar, Anantnag, Udhampur, Jammu, Pathankot, Gurdaspur, Batala, Amritsar, Tarn Taran, Patti, Ferozepore, Guru Har Sahai, Jalalabad, Fazilka and Abohar to Mumbai via Sri Ganganagar,” he asserted.

“It will also help in exports of basmati rice and other items from Amritsar and its surrounding region to different countries like the UAE and England via ports of Maharashtra,” he added.

Jain said the rail link had immense potential to change the lifeline of trade and business activities of Punjab, Jammu and Kashmir, Rajasthan, and Gujarat.

Besides affecting business, floods have also hampered movement of defence forces along the western border.