Displaying items by tag: Kashmir

India: The first freight train has arrived in Kashmir carrying 1400t of cement from Rupnagar, Punjab, according to the Times of India newspaper. The 21-wagon train covered 600km in under 18 hours, hauled by an electric WAG-9 locomotive. Northern Railways said the arrival demonstrates the capability of the Chenab and Anji bridges and will enable faster bulk movement of supplies to the region. Officials said the service will improve supply chains, decrease transport costs and boost industrial activity to support infrastructure projects.

India: Ecologists have established a connection between the activities of cement plants in Khrew, Kashmir, and massive disruptions to local red deer herds. The deer, known locally as hangul, are now mainly restricted to one national park throughout their 600km-long historic range. Scroll News has reported that Khrew, where eight cement plants are situated, adjoins forest forming an important corridor for hanguls. Local conservation campaigners say that cement plants' incursion on traditional grazing land has driven farmers' herds into this ecologically important forest.

Some zoologists class the hangul as a species in its own right. The International Union for the Conservation of Nature categorises the animal as critically endangered.