MUKERIAN
(Punjab) 1952
( Photo courtesy: Photo Division, Government of India)
(
The partition of the
country deprived the resident of the state from a direct Railway link with the
country as Sialkot fell to Pakistan . This being so , the Jammu Railway station
across Tawi Bridge ( Near present Day kala Kendra and previously J&K SRTC
transport Yard ) turned useless. The remains of the station could be seen at
least in early seventies of the last century . The old Jammu -Sialkot railway
track , passing through MIran sahib and R S Pura towns , could be seen for many
years till 1970. Even upto 1988, some
portion of this track could be seen near Miran sahib or R S Pura . After 1947, the
nearest Train Link for the residents of the state was from Mukerian in Punjab .
It was only in 1952 ( 07-04-1952 ) that
a Railway link was extended upto Pathankote . This 27 Mile Railway link was
formally inaugurated by Shri N. Gopalaswami Ayyangar, the then Minister for
Railways and Transport, Government of India. This shortest railway line brought
Kashmir valley nearer to India and Pathankote became the busiest Railway
station due to Passengers from J&K state .Buses from Srinagar would ply
directly upto Pathankote and carry and
drop them near the railway station.This station lost its importance once the track was extended
upto Jammu and another station was set up nearby known presently as Chakki Bank
. Almost all Delhi Bound trains starting
from Jammu , currently pass through
Chakki Bank station bypassing the old Pathankote Railway station.
In this photograph , we can see Shri N.
Gopalaswami Ayyangar formally declaring the railway line open by switching on
an electrical device which operated the ‘line-clear’ signal for the special
train (seen in the background). Seated to the Ministers’ right is Shri F.C.
Bhadwar, Chairman of the Railway Board. Sheikh Mohammad Abdullah, the then
Prime Minister of J&K state is at extreme left.
( Autar Mota )

CHINAR SHADE by Autarmota is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 2.5 India License.
Based on a work at http:\\autarmota.blogspot.com\.
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