Excelsior Correspondent
KATRA, Dec 3: A delegation of the Chamber of Tourism, Trade and Industry Katra (CTTIK) headed by president Raj Kumar Padha, Vice president Susheel Dubey and Secretary Atul Sharma today met Uchit Singhal, Sr Divisional Commercial Manager Northern Railways in his office chamber to highlight the pressing issues arising from the extended disruption of railway services in the Jammu Division.
During the meeting, the delegation submitted a detailed representation outlining the persistent hardships faced by pilgrims, tourism stakeholders, the business community and general commuters due to the continued suspension and irregular functioning of train operations.
CTTIK informed the Sr DCM that the railway infrastructure suffered extensive damage following continuous rains in August and yet even after the passage of three months , the situation remains largely unresolved. As a result pilgrims who had booked their travel for September, October and November faced abrupt cancellations by Railway authorities, causing immense inconvenience, substantial financial losses and widespread uncertainty among thousands of devotees planning to visit the holy town of Katra.
Raj Kumar Padha emphasized that over 80 percent of Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims depend on train travel making the timely restoration of full services absolutely crucial. They further highlighted that special train permissions for Yatri groups from Gujarat and Maharashtra for the upcoming months of January, February and March are reportedly not being considered thereby complicating travel arrangements for organized pilgrimage groups.
Atul Sharma said that the business and tourism sectors were already burdened by the Pahalgam terror attack followed by Operation Sindoor later and the torrential rains of August and recently the Red Fort Delhi bomb blast and Naugam Police Station bomb blast.
In its representation CTTIK urged Northern Railways to expedite all remaining repair and restoration works on a war footing and ensure the early resumption of full train services to Jammu and Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra.
Susheel Dubey proposed the promotion and expansion of national religious circuits by introducing additional train services to Katra.
Uchit Singhal assured the delegation that necessary steps for the restoration work are already underway. He informed the delegation that most of the repair and restoration tasks have been completed and the remaining work will be finished in the coming days.
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