Build P'kot-Leh rail route, Centre urged

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Chamba, August 5

The Chamba Jan Hit Sangathan has urged the Union Government to construct a broad-gauge railway route from Pathankot to Leh via Chamba, as it is significant from the defence point of view considering the region is adjacent to Tibet.

In a press statement issued here today, sangathan convener Shadi Lal Sharma and president Kishore Baroo said that at a rally during the Lok Sabha elections at Chamba last year, national BJP president Amit Shah, now Union Home Minister, had said that the prime issue of a broad-gauge railway line from Pathankot to Leh via Chamba would be considered. Consequently, people supported Kangra BJP candidate Kishan Kapoor, who won the seat with record votes, they added.

The sangathan office-bearers stated that the rail route, if constructed, would be more viable, conducive, short, safe and economical from the strategic point of view.

Moreover, the rail line would prove to be a boon for the tourism industry in the mountainous region, which is replete with magnificent prospects and natural scenic settings, they said. It would also pave the way for vast development of the district, they added.

They said that Chamba district had always been neglected. In 2016, Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had sanctioned two tunnels on the Draman to Saach Pass (Pangi) road, but the work to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) had been hanging fire, they added.