The decision of the railway ministry to expand its network to more districts of Kashmir is facing resistance from farmers who fear losing their orchards in the process.

The railways recently sanctioned the final location survey of five lines, including the doubling of the Baramulla-Banihal section (135.5km), Baramulla-Uri (50km), Sopore-Kupwara (33.7km), Awantipora-Shopian (27.6km) and Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam (77.5km).

Fruit growers this week staged protests in the Zainapora area of Shopian after officials started surveying their orchards to earmark land for the proposed Awantipora-Shopian line. Scores of people including women, some of them crying bitterly, were part of these protests.

“It has taken us decades to raise these apple orchards. They are the only source of our livelihood. We have told them (officials) categorically that we will not allow a railway line through our village,” Abdul Gani Reshi, who heads the Auqaf committee at Reshipora village, told The Telegraph.

“Our village has already lost hundreds of kanals (eight kanals are one acre) to various projects, including a police line that has come up here. Money cannot compensate for our loss.”

Shopian has emerged as a major fruit producer in Kashmir and its apples are known for their quality.

Residents said they obstructed railway officials from conducting the survey last week after which revenue officials, supported by a strong contingent of police and CRPF personnel, visited their village on Sunday.

“We did not budge. They (officials) later left the village and thankfully there was no confrontation. There was another protest yesterday. We have also met the deputy commissioner of Shopian and told him we will not spare our orchards for the railway line. A local BJP leader, Javaid Qadri, visited our village yesterday and promised help,” a villager said.

“There is anger across the region and more villages have decided to join the protests.”

Shopian’s former Bar Association president Shabir Ahmad Kullay, also a fruit grower, said hundreds of kanals of orchards would be lost to the railway expansion.

“Thousands of trees will have to be cut. Apple growers will resent the move. If they (government) are serious about the project, they can use barren land on the sides of Rambiar Nallah (stream) and spare the orchards,” he said.

“We are told that its (railway lines’) width would be 300 feet. That is a lot of land. Many farmers own a meagre two to three kanals of land. Their livelihood is in danger.”

Shopian Fruit Association president Mir Mohammad Amin, however, said he supports the move as it would bring prosperity to the area. “The farmers will be duly compensated,” he said.

Former chief minister Mehbooba Mufti on Wednesday asked the government to take a re-look at the project.

“Building railway lines through Kashmir without taking into consideration its ecological impact is fraught with dire consequences. In this case the proposed railway line will necessitate the felling of apple orchards at Shopian. Request @manojsinha_ ji to involve a panel of environmental experts before taking such major decisions,” Mehbooba posted on X. Manoj Sinha is the lieutenant governor of Jammu and Kashmir.

The railways has been working overtime to connect Kashmir with Kanyakumari, but the project has missed several deadlines.

The Sangaldan (Jammu)-Baramulla line is operational within the Valley but it is yet to be connected with Udhampur in Jammu and the country’s rail grid. Nearly 63km of the 272km Udhampur Baramulla rail line now remains to be commissioned.