PM Narendra Modi to launch Katra-Udhampur train on July 4

Jammu: Prime Minister Narendra Modi will pay a one-day visit to Jammu and Kashmir on July 4, his first to the state after assuming office, official sources said.

The prime minister will arrive in Jammu and then proceed to nearby Katra town to inaugurate the Katra-Udhampur train that would cover a 25-km distance between the two places, the sources told IANS. Katra is the base town of the Mata Vaishno Devi shrine that is visited by millions of devotees every year. After the commissioning of the Katra railway station, pilgrims would be able to reach the town directly without having to engage other modes of transport as they now do. Railways Minister Sadananda Gowda and Minister of State in the PMO Jitender Singh will accompany Modi during his visit. The prime minister will then leave for Srinagar where he will chair a security review meeting at the Badami Bagh headquarters of the army`s 15 Corps. The meeting will be attended by Governor NN Vohra, Chief Minister Omar Abdullah, general officer commanding-in-chief (GOC-in-C) Northern Command, Lt Gen DS Hooda and the three corps commanders of the 14th, 15th and the 16th Corps. The governor will later host lunch for the prime minister at the Raj Bhavan in Srinagar. Modi is also scheduled to visit Uri town in Baramulla district to inaugurate the 240 MW Uri-II hydroelectric power project.