installed a huge stone crusher in the Gund area of Banihal to treat the residue taken out from the mountains after the blasts. The machine is spread over almost two kanals of land and poses a great threat to the ecology of the area. “Our trees, crops, flowers, roof-tops, gardens, almost everything is covered by huge quantities of stone dust. The land which was used to grow corn and maize is now totally uncultivable. The land has become parched and grayish,” a local said.
The locals in the area along with the 2000 laborers working day and night on the project are also exposed to the health hazards. Abdul Gani Chandal, Sahab Begum and Noor-u-Din Shah, all local residents were detected with Tuberculosis in 2007 with Government Medical College, Srinagar and SKIMS confirming that they had inhaled excessive dust which led to the disease. The government has turned a blind eye to these cases.
Sangaldan Higher Secondary school in Banihal, which provides education to more than 400 students of the area, too bears the brunt of the dust that hangs in the air over Banihal. Says Bashir Ahmad Bhat, a local, “By the time the bell rings, the students and staff of the school are clad in dust. It can seriously affect their health. Besides, the vehicular traffic on the road adjacent to the school causes excessive noise pollution inside the classrooms.”
When the construction kicked off, the water supply lines were destroyed and some roads which were used extensively for carrying machinery and labor have also been rendered unfit for a smooth traffic passage. These roads haven’t been rebuilt so far and neither have the water supply lines been repaired, adding to the miseries of the people. Banihal-Lambar road link is one such stretch, which has been used extensively by the railway authorities with the IRCON headquarter also situated on it. This stretch is lying in shambles and un-macadamized.
When a satellite survey of the Banihal-Qazigund railway project was carried out, it didn’t match the ground survey and the work on the tunnel had to be cancelled on three occasions. The wrong alignment has also cost the Railway Board of India a good fortune with some reports suggesting that the construction work in this area will stretch due to delays which will mean more woes for the residents.
However, the project which is scheduled to be completed in December this year, has offered a lot of economic opportunities to the local population. Apart from jobs, new business establishments and shops have come up near the Banihal Station which is yet to be completed. Isaac, too, has opened a retail shop near the station. Some areas in Banihal which were so far disconnected from the main town have been provided road facility and new schools have been constructed in the area. The locals give credit to the rail project for making their dreams a reality. Almost 300 plus link roads have been laid since the work has started.
Qazigund-the gateway of Kashmir,
Qazigund is the gateway to Kashmir. Of late, it has also witnessed massive investment in developmental projects. Right now, it is home to the last stop of railway network in valley. And construction hasn’t been merciful here either. The Ghulab Bagh area where the HCC project is based right now is the most affected area.
Other areas too have been affected. For example, one of the roads which connects Doru, Verinag and other adjoining areas to the main town of Qazigund is in shambles. The large vehicles of the HCC plying on them throughout the day have created potholes, making them unfit for travelling, especially for small vehicles and the residents of the Ghulab Bagh.
At a distance of few kilometers from the NH1A, the HCC achieved breakthrough on October 14 last year when the 10•96 km Pir Panjal tunnel finally broke through the mountain. And on completion, it will be the longest railway tunnel in India, connecting the isolated Kashmir valley with the railway network at Udhampur.
The tunnel which is scheduled to be completed by December this year holds a lot of promises for the people of valley as the distance between Banihal and Qazigund would be traversed in just 6.6 minutes and the avalanche prone area which consumed numerous lives all these years would be bypassed by the travelers.
“Right now, more than 700 people are working on this project in Qazigund area, of which about 80% people are locals who have been employed to make an earning out of this developmental work,” said
