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Srinagar/Chanderkot: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh landed here last afternoon with sporadic incidents of stone-throwing by separatist groups in various towns and a shutdown across the valley marking his arrival.
Manmohan Singh was flown in a helicopter from Srinagar airport to a helipad adjacent to the Raj Bhavan, the state governor's residence.
The prime minister is scheduled to meet political leaders at the Sher-e-Kashmir International Convention Centre on the banks of the Dal Lake to take stock of the situation, as polls are due in the state later this year.
The separatist Hurriyat Conference has called for a shutdown in the Kashmir valley during the visit of the prime minister, from till today.
Sporadic incidents
Police officials said there were sporadic incidents of stone throwing at security personnel at this summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir last afternoon and in other towns across the valley. Manmohan Singh, who inaugurated the 900 MW Baglihar project in Jammu last morning, is scheduled to flag off the first ever train service in the Kashmir valley today.
Neighbouring Pakistan has said it fears the hydroelectric project on the Chenab River could deprive its wheat-bowl state of Punjab of vital irrigation water and argues that it violates a decades-old water sharing treaty brokered by the World Bank.
India says it is crucial to resolving Kashmir's energy supply problems. A train service to the mountainous region has been a long-standing demand of people of the region who accuse the Indian government of neglecting development in the state.
The service will eventually link the militancy-wracked northern parts of the Himalayan region with the rest of India.
Mountain-locked town
Singh commissioned the Rs52-billion (Dh3.67 billion) Baglihar project at a function in the mountain-locked town of Chanderkot, 165km north of Jammu on the Jammu-Srinagar National Highway.
Qasim Din, a resident of the area, said: "Our ancestral land is part of this project. My father wanted to see this project start in his lifetime but he died a few months ago. I am sure he would be watching from the heavens."
Mohammad Rafiq, who was the "main blaster", who paved the way through the mountains for the project, said: "I cannot express in words how great it feels to see this project start but I am also sad as my house is getting submerged in this dam in Pul Doda area about 40km upstream."
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