Anantnag, Feb 05: Senior National Conference (NC) leader and Vice President Anantnag, Imran Amin Shah, on Wednesday welcomed the Central Government’s decision to halt the proposed Srinagar–Shopian and Anantnag–Bijbehara–Pahalgam railway projects, terming it a timely and people-centric move.
Imran Shah expressed his sincere gratitude to Hon’ble Chief Minister Jenab Omar Abdullah Sahib for his decisive intervention, which he said played a crucial role in ensuring that the genuine concerns of the local population were duly considered.
He also thanked Hon’ble Member of Parliament Mian Altaf Sahib Larvi, District President and MLA Pahalgam Mohd Altaf Kuloo, and MLA Srigufwara–Bijbehara Dr Bashir Ahmad Veeri for their collective efforts in convincingly presenting public grievances before the Union Ministry, particularly those of farmers whose orchards stood to suffer irreparable damage due to the project.
Shah was speaking on a joining occasion at Arehbal Teilwani Achabal today where in about half a dozen of PDP prominent workers joined NC which include Gh Hassan Rather, Ab Gani, Shabir Ah, Bashir Ah and others. On this occasion besides senior Block President Ab Salam Dar , Block Secretary Mushtaq Ah other party workers were also present and spoke to gathering.
Imran Shah noted that the proposed railway alignments posed serious ecological risks and threatened the region’s horticulture-based economy. He emphasized that large-scale destruction of orchards would have severely impacted farmers’ livelihoods, especially when infrastructure development is already being addressed through the ongoing National Highway widening project aimed at improving connectivity between Anantnag and Pahalgam in a more sustainable manner.
Reiterating the National Conference’s unwavering commitment to public welfare, Shah stated that the party has consistently stood by the people in safeguarding their interests and will continue to raise genuine public issues at every appropriate forum.
He called for the expedited development of essential local infrastructure and assured that all legitimate public demands would be pursued to ensure maximum public satisfaction.
Imran Shah further expressed hope that the upcoming budget would be people-friendly and address long-pending issues, particularly the regularisation of casual, ad hoc, and daily-rated employees, which he urged the Omar Abdullah-led government to prioritise.
He appealed for a special amnesty on power tariffs, especially for rural areas with a high concentration of Below Poverty Line (BPL) households. He also sought special relief measures for farmers, including a waiver of Kisan Credit Card (KCC) loans, to ease their financial burden.
