Expedite Chakki bridge repair, Kangra MP Kishan Kapoor asks Railways

Tribune News Service

Lalit Mohan

Dharamsala, November 17

The issue of suspension of railway services in the Kangra valley has taken the centre stage again.

BJP MP from Kangra Kishan Kapoor has taken up the matter with the Railways. Kapoor has asked the railway authorities to expedite the construction of the collapsed railway bridge in Kangra so that the rail services to the region can be resumed.

He has alleged that the suspension of the rail services to the region had hampered the religious and other tourism activities in the region.

The railway bridge over the Chakki river on the border of Punjab in Kangra district was washed away August 20 when a flash flood in the Chakki swept away the weakened pillar of the bridge.

The bridge having washed away, the entire narrow gauge train service between Pathankot and Jogindernagar has remain suspended since then. It is likely to remain suspended till new pillar of the bridge was constructed and railway line was restored.

The construction work of new railway bridge over the Chakki is yet to begin.

Seven trains used to ply between Pathankot and Jogindernagar daily on the narrow-gauge railway line constructed and commissioned by the British in 1928.

The rail line is the lifeline for hundreds of villages located in the Pong Dam wildlife sanctuary, where there were no road or bus service.

The people of these areas used the train service to connect to cites and district headquarters of Kangra district.

Illegal mining in the riverbed had weakened 94-year-old railway bridge. The railways authorities had complained many times regarding the damage being caused to the bridge due the illegal mining which had had lowered the bed of the river, exposing the foundations of pillars of the bridge to water currents.

The residents of rural areas of Kangra, who are dependent on Pathankot-Jogindernagar narrow gauge rail service for commuting daily, are fuming over the closed rail services to the region.

Satish Sharma, a resident of Panchrukhi, said the residents of his area have written to the BJP MP from Kangra, Kishan Kapoor and Rajya Sabha member Indu Goswami regarding the matter.

Kush Sharma, another resident, said that many areas of Kangra region, especially those located in Pong Dam wildlife sanctuary, had no road connectivity. The youth, school going students and teachers use the train service to reach these villages. Suspension of train services of months cuts off many villages of Kangra from the rest of the district, he said.

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