Railways
assures completion of project by 15th Aug, 2022
|
Jammu: Lieutenant
Governor Manoj Sinha today took a review meeting of the 272 Km long
Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line, being built at a cost of Rs 27,949
Crores, at Civil Secretariat here.
The meeting was attended by
Chairman Railways Board, Vinod Kumar Yadav; Advisor to Lieutenant Governor, KK
Sharma; Chief Secretary, BVR Subrahmanyam and General Manager Northern
Railways, Rajiv Chaudhary, besides Administrative Secretaries, Divisional
Commissioner Jammu, IGP Jammu, Deputy Commissioner Reasi, DC Ramban and other
senior officials from the Indian Railways, IRCON, Konkan Railways Corporation
Limited.
The Lt Governor was informed
that 161 Km length of the project has been commissioned. He directed the
Railway authorities to complete the remaining part of the project from Katra to
Banihal by 15th August, 2022. He assured full support to the executing agencies
for timely completion of the project.
It is pertinent to mention
that the world’s highest railway bridge with a height of 359 metres is coming
up on river Chenab under the project. Similarly, India’s first cable stayed
railway bridge on Anji Nallah in Reasi is also coming up along the link.
The Lt Governor directed the
railway authorities to expand the rail link towards unconnected areas of
Rajouri-Poonch and Kupwara region.
On this, the railways officers
informed that preliminary survey for 223 km long Jammu-Poonch rail link at an
estimated cost of Rs 22,768 crores was completed and submitted in 2017, and for
39 km long Baramulla-Kupwara rail link with an estimated cost of Rs 3843 Cr,
the survey has been completed and submitted to the Railway Board in July 2020.
The Lt Governor asked the
Railways to prepare DPRs of both the projects so that the matter could be taken
up with the Ministry of Finance for sanctioning of these projects.
The Railway authorities
requested the Lt Governor to resolve the issue of non-availability of minor
minerals in Ramban district.
The Lt Governor issued on spot
directions to Director Geology & Mining and Deputy Commissioner Ramban to
issue short term permits so that Railways could procure essential construction
material without any hassle.
The Lt Governor also asked the
Railways to run Vista Dome coaches in Kashmir to attract tourists and offer
them better view of the scenic Kashmir valley, once the Covid situation
normalizes.
On the intervention of Lt
Governor, the Railways agreed to run local train service between Kathua and
Udhampur to benefit local commuters. The local train service will be started
once the Covid pandemic subsides.
It was informed that on the
request of UT government, the Railways have agreed to construct a rail over
bridge at its own cost near Madhopur, to decongest traffic between Pathankot
and Lakhanpur.
The Lt Governor also asked the
Railways and JKSRTC for launching a single-ticket travel facility to provide
travelers with opportunity of traveling from Kashmir to Kanyakumari via train
and bus. It was decided that the service would be started after the covid
situation normalises.
The Lt Governor directed
Divisional Commissioner Jammu to identify projects to be taken up by the
Railways under Corporate Social Responsibility in the region.
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