In Indian-administered Kashmir, some Kashmiri apple farmers have been shocked when government officials arrived at their orchards without notice and began measuring their land for the construction of a railway line, Al Jazeera reported in an article published today, April 10.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The proposed 77km Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam railway line, one of five such projects totaling about 190km across the picturesque Kashmir valley, has left many farmers in distress, the article mentioned.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
Apple farming is the largest employment generator in Indian-administered Jammu and Kashmir, involving nearly 3.5 million farmers, contributing more than 8 percent to the region’s GDP.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The farmers, who have invested their lives and limited resources in raising orchards, now face the threat of their land being forcefully taken away by the authorities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
The project has also met criticism from environment and ecology experts, the article highlighted.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
In Indian-administered Kashmir, some Kashmiri apple farmers have been shocked when government officials arrived at their orchards without notice and began measuring their land for the construction of a railway line, Al Jazeera reported in an article published today, April 10. The proposed 77km Anantnag-Bijbehara-Pahalgam railway line, one of five such projects totaling about 190km …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5,"featured_media":103463,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"yes","rop_publish_now_accounts":{"facebook_108372464460192_245495985553329":""},"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[5973],"tags":[7517,7516],"class_list":["post-103462","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-kashmir","tag-apple-orchards","tag-railway-project"],"yoast_head":"\n