Thanking Railways Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw and the Centre for extending Vande Bharat train services between Jammu and Srinagar, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah on Wednesday demanded a dry (inland) port for the union territory to boost trade and business.
“I want to congratulate and thank Vaishnaw and, through him, the central government, on behalf of the people of Jammu and Kashmir, for connecting Jammu with Kashmir through rail,” Abdullah said while addressing a gathering during the flagging-off of the Vande Bharat train from the Jammu railway station.
Highlighting the railway connectivity’s trade benefits, the CM said goods like cement and cars can be transported, giving a huge boost to business and trade.
“The speciality of this train is that it has not only enabled people like us to travel but has also facilitated the transport of goods such as cement. I was surpirsed to see Maruti cars being transported to Srinagar and fruits from Kashmir by rail,” he said.
Abdullah also appealed to the railways minister to set up an inland port in Jammu and Kashmir to ease customs clearance for exporting goods from the union territory.
“I have a request for the railways minister, even as it does not pertain to his ministry, but since he has the goodwill, he can use that. I request that an inland port be set up in J-K. There is an urgent need for a dry port here so that we do not require customs clearance in other cities for our goods, which we want to export from here. The customs clearance should take place here in J-K, it will benefit our trade and business,” the CM added.
Abdullah said that while he would raise the issue with the central government, he appealed to the union ministers, Vaishnaw and Jitendra Singh, and the MPs present there to take up the matter with the Centre.
“This inland port, dry port, will prove to be very beneficial for Jammu and Kashmir,” he said.
Talking about the significance of the railway connectivity between Srinagar and Jammu, the chief minister said the people of J-K had been waiting for it for many years.
“For so many years, we had been waiting to travel by train from Jammu to Srinagar. Now, there is no need for us to travel to Katra from Jammu and the other way around via road,” he said.
Abdullah said he had never expected the railway line to become so popular that he would have to seek favours to reserve seats on the train.
“Thankfully, now it (train) has been changed from eight bogeys to 20 and while 500 passengers used to travel earlier, now 1400 people can travel via it. This is a huge thing for us,” he added.