Construction of Jammu-Poonch rail line should be completed in time: PDP

The PDP Monday welcomed the Centre's nod for constructing the Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch rail line, demanding that the work should be completed in a fixed timeline.

Senior PDP leader Naeem Akhtar said the party welcomes such a decision, but it is concerned over the snail's pace of work going on at Jammu and Kashmir's main railway project - the Srinagar-Baramulla-Udhampur rail line.

He said former prime minister Indira Gandhi laid the foundation stone of the project in early 1980s and in spite of four decades, it is still under execution.

"Construction of the Jammu-Rajouri-Poonch rail line has come close on the heels of Baramulla-Kupwara railway line and we welcome such an important decision. Connectivity has always been an important issue in Jammu and Kashmir and it merits government's special focus," Akhtar said in a statement here.

"Three generations of the state have wished this dream being realised since 1980 when it was first started. There has been no funding problem and no technical deficit but unfortunately, the project continues to remain in limbo," the former minister said.

Akhtar said the Srinagar-Baramulla-Udhampur railway line and new rail projects approved for the state should be done on project mode and completed in a fixed timeline.