The final location survey and land acquisition for the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line project has been completed. For the Char Dham rail project, the final location survey is slated to be completed by January 2020. Officials provided this information in a meeting chaired by Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat to review the progress of the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line project.
In the meeting, Rawat directed that a single window clearance system should be established in each district involved in the Rishikesh-Karnprayag project. He also directed district magistrates of Pauri, Chamoli, Tehri and Rudraprayag to establish coordination with Railways and provide all type of administrative assistance. Work to complete cases including compensation for land and building related to the project should also be expedited on priority basis, he said. Clearances for approved dumping zones for disposing debris and other tasks should also be issued soon.
Rawat directed the Public Works Department (PWD) to expedite construction of Byasi-Narkota road bridge and complete the task on time. This will prove quite helpful in transporting heavy machinery of the railways.
He also directed the electricity department to soon provide electricity connections where sought by the railways. Expressing satisfaction at the progress of the Rishikesh-Karnprayag railway line project, Rawat said that the district magistrates concerned must share their experiences and ensure that hurdles in the work are resolved as swiftly as possible.
He also asked the railway officials to keep in mind the grandeur of railway stations on the route. Traditional architectural and design style of the mountains should be used in construction of the railway stations.
Officials of the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) informed that the final location survey has been completed. The work of land acquisition has also been completed. Necessary forest clearances have also been received. The distribution of compensation for land acquisition is underway with Rs 623.92 crore out of the allocated Rs 804.28 crore having been distributed so far. The geo-technical investigation for the project has also been completed.
Works for construction of one rail bridge across the Chandrabhaga river, one in Rishikesh and along with one rail under bridge in the first six kilometres of the project had been awarded in February 2017.
The work is in progress and expected to be completed by February 2020. The work on first block between Veerbhadra and New Rishikesh has also been awarded and is expected to be completed by February 2020.
As part of the project, work on 16 tunnels has been divided into nine packages. The design work is currently underway.
Similarly, work has been started on rail bridges across the Alaknanda river at Lachmoli and Srinagar.
The work on road bridge at Srinagar, Guachar and Siwai has been started recently. 2019-20 has been set as the target for completing work on Veerbhadra-New Rishikesh block section, 2023-24 for New Rishikesh-Devprayag block section and 2024-25 for Devprayag-Karnprayag block section. RVNL officials also informed that to link the Char Dham- Gangotri, Yamunotri, Badrinath and Kedarnath with rail line, work will be undertaken on four rail lines totaling to about 327 kilometres in length. A total of 21 railway stations and 61 tunnels will be built for this project.
Geo-mapping, hydrological study, drone survey and environmental desktop study have been completed for the Char Dham rail project. January 2020 has been set as the target for completing the final location survey for this project.
