‘Cable car project will steal livelihood’: Locals clash with police during protests in Katra, 1 person injured

Reason: Local shopkeepers and workers on Monday protested against the proposed cable car project on the trek route to the Vaishno Devi temple in Jammu and Kashmir’s Reasi district.

The protests turned violent when demonstrators clashed with police and started throwing stones, injuring a policeman.

The protesters mentioned that the proposed project would result in loss of livelihood. Shopkeepers and workers fear that the project, scheduled to be completed in two years, will leave them jobless.

Hundreds of protesters took part in a march and sit-in in the town of Katra, the base camp for pilgrims visiting the Trikuta hilltop shrine.

“We will not allow the Katra ropeway project to be implemented. We have been fighting him for three years. We were assured in the past, but now the project has been implemented,” the leader of the Shopkeepers Association said.

In this regard, Jammu and Kashmir Lt Governor Manoj Sinha on Monday said that the genuine concerns of people protesting at Katra base camp against the proposed ropeway project on the Mata Vaishno Devi route would be addressed.

After hours of discussions with the protesters, the district authorities assured them that they would hold talks with various stakeholders, including sanctuary management officials, to allay their concerns, following which the protesters called off the strike.

The strike, called by shopkeepers and pony and palanquin owners, began on November 22 after the Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Shrine Board announced plans to continue the Rs 250-crore ropeway project between Tarakote Marg and Sanji Chhat on a 12-km route.