Coming from a city where trains are lifelines, these suggestions on the railway project in Jammu & Kashmir are straight from the heart.

Many of the suggestions are backed by science, for they come from a team of students of the Veermata Jijabai Technical Institute, one of Mumbai’s premier engineering colleges.

The students are building a model of the 290-km stretch under construction since the late ’90s. It will be on display at the college technology festival, Technovanza, coming up on January 30, 31 and February 1.

The model can be seen at VJTI’s sprawling Matunga campus, where about 150 feet of timber strips, 100 kg of plaster of paris and 10 electric motors are going into building a hall-size model, most portions scaled down accurately to 500 times smaller than the original.

Event head Anuj Budhkar, a second year civil engineering student, says attempts are on to invite Konkan Railway Corporation Ltd and IRCON officials – both are building portions of the railway – to visit the exhibition and hear some suggestions.

The students are asking that the Kashmir Railway plan, stalled since July over disputes and proposed changes in the route alignment of key sections, not only be fast-tracked, but also be extended.

“We are suggesting that the link be extended to Kargil,” says Budhkar.

Kashmir, especially Leh, needs better connectivity, to tap the area’s tourism potential, says Prasad Vaidya, media coordinator for Technovanza and a second year engineering student. “We are proposing an extension to this line for security and military purposes to Kargil. This will boost tourism in that region and help in its overall improvement,” says Vaidya.

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