NEW DELHI, May 8:
The Centre was today asked by the Delhi High Court to respond to a PIL alleging that the current alignment of the Katra-Qazigund rail link would cause “serious safety problem” for general public as the ministry has rejected the experts’opinion for an alternative alignment.
The Katra-Qazigund rail link project connects Jammu with Srinagar.
A bench of Chief Justice D Murugesan and Justice Jayant Nath issued a notice to Railway Ministry and sought its response by July 24 on the PIL filed by the Centre for Public Interest Litigation (CPIL) through counsel Prashant Bhushan.
The PIL alleged the current alignment of the Katra- Qazigund rail link would cause “serious safety problem” for general public and the Railway Ministry has rejected the experts’ suggestions for including an alternative alignment.
“Eminent experts, senior railway officials and a high- level expert committee have raised concerns over the current alignment which most say overlooks the basic human needs of safety, security and comfort while travelling and makes the entire project unworkable,” the PIL said.
According to the NGO, “the alternative alignment is totally in consonance with international experience and practice of undertaking railway projects in mountainous and hilly region.
“Overlooking all the concerns, Railway Board, under the influence of vested interests, has gone ahead with the unsafe and unworkable current alignment even though an alternative alignment is eminently safer,” the plea said.
The petitioner’s lawyer argued that when speeding trains would navigate the turns in tunnels in mountain regions, there would be a serious problem of safety.
The PIL sought “a direction to Railways to set up an expert committee to review the entire alignment for Katra- Qazigund link without being bound by the current approved alignment or any ruling gradient and put forward a new workable alignment.”
The petitioner prayed the court to order “an inquiry by the Central Vigilance Commissioner (CVC) and the Comptroller and Auditor General (CAG) of India into financial losses, wastages and the conduct of the ministry.”
“The project was launched in 2002 and slated to be completed in five years i.e by 2007 and yet in 2012, the project is not even 5 per cent complete and costs have escalated by 400 per cent and the project is likely to take another 20 years,” the PIL said.
“Work has come to a standstill for the past 5 years…. Even after the project gets completed, there are serious safety and security concerns and human life would always be in danger,” it claimed. (PTI)
Trending Now
E-Paper
Follow our WhatsApp channel