Jammu and Kashmir Director General of Police (DGP) Ashok Prasad Wednesday said the security of railway tracks in the Valley was a great challenge before the authorities, amid fears of militants targeting them.
Presiding over a meeting of government railway police (GRP) officers here, the DGP said: “With the inception of railway services in the Valley, responsibilities of Jammu and Kashmir Police have been added and the cops have to come up to the expectations of the people by safeguarding their lives and property.”
Prasad exuded confidence that the state police will take any responsibility at any time with fortitude.
He said that the responsibilities would be more added in the future when railway service are extended to other parts of the state and additional manpower and infrastructure would be required for deployment on the tracks.
Presently the train goes up to Udhampur which is 70 km north of Jammu. The mountainous track has several small and big bridges besides 20 tunnels.
The tracks are under militants threat and hence are covered by comprehensive security.
Next year, the train is expected to reach Katra, the base camp of famous Hindu pilgrimage of Mata Vaishno Devi.
The work on construction of railway track beyond Katra up to Srinagar and Baramulla in Kashmir Valley is going on which besides being a challenging railway project would throw up many security challenges too.