Why railway connectivity in Jammu and Kashmir is such a challenge

October 10, 2019, 10:53 AM

Union railways minister Piyush Goyal had announced the NDA government’s plans of providing rail connectivity from Kashmir to Kanyakumari by 2022 at the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express.

Vande Bharat, the train from New Delhi to Katra, is the Centre’s first big infrastructure project in Jammu and Kashmir after the abrogation of Article 370.

The government plan involves a 272-km long rail line from Udhampur to Baramulla joining the Kashmir valley with the railways network under Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link project (USBRL). The 111-km-long railway stretch between Katra and Banihal, currently under construction, will connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of the country.

Train services have been operational between Banihal and Baramulla in the Valley since 2013. Services on this line connecting Kashmir to Jammu have been suspended since August 5, according to senior railway ministry officials.

“The railway line from Delhi right now goes up only to Katra after that we have a railway line from Banihal to Baramulla. Between Katra to Banihal work is going on and it is the railways’ most challenging project undertaken post-Independence. The alignment of USBRL involves construction of a large number of tunnels and bridges in highly rugged and mountainous terrain with most difficult and complex Himalayan geology,” Rajesh Agrawal, Divisional Railway Managers (DRM) Firozpur said.

The Katra- Banihal section includes 38 tunnels of 163 km (97 km main tunnels and 66 km of escape tunnels), 927 bridges and 203 km of access roads. The total approved cost of the project is Rs 27,949 crore, of this the sanctioned cost of Katra-Banihal section is Rs 21,653 crore. According to the railways ministry, the cumulative expenditure on this section up to September is Rs 13,285 crore (i.e. 61%).

Work on the Katra-Banihal railway line is being undertaken by two Indian Railways public sector undertakings (PSUs)— Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) and IRCON— under the supervision of the Northern Railways zone.

Of the total length of 272 km, work has been completed on 161km stretch. Ministry officials said almost 60% work has been finished in the Katra-Banihal section.

The section includes eight stations out of which five lie in Reasi district (Reasi, Salal, Dugga and Basindadhar) and three in Ramban district (Sangaldan, Sumber and Arpinchala).

This challenging project runs across the deep gorge of the Chenab river near Salal hydropower dam. The 359 meter high and 1315 meter long Chenab bridge is being constructed here in the Seismic Zone V. Upon completion it will be the bridge in the world. Currently the world’s tallest rail bridge is located over France’s Tarn river.

The project due to its geological challenges was sub-divided in three phases— Quazigund-Baramulla (118 km) and Banihal-Quazigund (18 km) which was commissioned in June 2013, Udhampur to Katra (25 km) commissioned in July 2014 and Katra to Banihal scheduled to be completed in March 2021.

At the inauguration of the Vande Bharat Express, home minister Amit Shah said Jammu and Kashmir will lead the country in terms of development over the next decade.

Source – Hindustan Times

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