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Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti led a protest against the proposed Bijbehara\u2013Pahalgam rail line, warning that the project would deprive thousands of farmers of their livelihoods and cause irreversible damage to the fragile ecosystem of south Kashmir.<\/p>\n
According to Kashmir Media Service, Iltija Mufti said, \u201cOn the one hand the authorities talk about improving connectivity, and on the other, it is taking away the only source of income of the people.\u201d \u201cWe are not against development, but this rail line is going to destroy fertile agricultural land. When you snatch people\u2019s livelihood, where do you expect them to go?,\u201d she added.<\/p>\n
She said agriculture and horticulture form the backbone of Kashmir\u2019s economy and warned that large-scale land acquisition would further worsen unemployment in the region.<\/p>\n
\u201cJammu and Kashmir is already grappling with a serious unemployment crisis \u2013 touching 39 percent after the abrogation of special status in 2019. Farmers and orchardists are barely surviving. At least allow villagers to earn their living from their land,\u201d she lamented.<\/p>\n
According to Mufti, the proposed rail line passes through several villages, including Wulurhama, Dirhama, Adlach, Joibal-Veeri, Trail, Hanumanpora and several others, cutting across orchards, paddy fields and residential areas.<\/p>\n
She said residents have lost their peace of mind and remain uncertain about their future.<\/p>\n
Mufti also raised serious environmental concerns, saying the project would add pressure on an already ecologically sensitive region.<\/p>\n
\u201cJammu and Kashmir is an ecologically fragile area. We are witnessing changing weather patterns and a decline in snowfall even during peak winter,\u201d she said. \u201cIf this project goes ahead, it will further destabilize the environment and could lead to landslides and other disasters,\u201d she remarked.<\/p>\n
She urged the Indian government and railway authorities to engage with local communities and explore alternative routes that do not involve the acquisition of fertile agricultural land.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Srinagar: In Indian illegally occupied Jammu and Kashmir, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) leader Iltija Mufti led a protest against the proposed Bijbehara\u2013Pahalgam rail line, warning that the project would deprive thousands of farmers of their livelihoods and cause irreversible damage to the fragile ecosystem of south Kashmir. According to Kashmir Media Service, Iltija Mufti said, …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":193145,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[17],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-193143","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-indian-occupied-jammu-and-kashmir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/assests\/2026\/01\/Screenshot-2026-01-22-at-9.15.11-PM.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193143","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=193143"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193143\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":193147,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/193143\/revisions\/193147"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/193145"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=193143"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=193143"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kmsnews.org\/kms\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=193143"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}