Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, Feb 25: Railways Minister Suresh Prabhu today announced slew of new projects for Jammu including development of ‘Satellite Freight Goods Terminal’ at Bari Brahamana and ‘Development of Coaching Terminal’ in Jammu even as he said that one-third of tunneling work on Katra-Banihal railway section has been completed.
Presenting railway budget for 2016-17 in Lok Sabha today, Prabhu announced setting up of ‘Bari Brahamana Development Satellite of Freight Goods of Terminal’ at the cost of Rs 59.2 lakh and ‘Development of Coaching Terminal’ at Jammu for Rs 1.80 crores. He also announced ‘Goods Handling Line with Covered Goods Shed and Cement Handling Facility’ at Chand Arorian in Kathua district for Rs 16.49 lakh.
Prabhu proposed handsome amount for widening of all four sections of Jalandhar-Jammu railway track for upcoming financial year of 2016-17.
He proposed Rs 10 crores for Samba-Vijaypur doubling across Basantar bridge, Rs 5 crore for Kathua-Madhopur doubling across Ravi bridge and Rs 5 crore for Kathua-Madhopur-Punjab doubling across bridge Nos. 16, 18 and 19.
He announced that 35 kilometers work of tunneling on prestigious Katra-Banihal railway link that will connect Kashmir valley with rest of the country by rail has been completed and said work on the project was progressing smoothly.
“In Jammu and Kashmir despite difficult terrain and uncertain geology, work on Katra-Banihal section of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project is progressing satisfactorily and 35 kilometers of tunneling out of total of 95 kilometers has been completed successfully,’’ he told the Lok Sabha in his second railway budget today.
The Railways Minister, however, didn’t mention any deadline for completion of Katra-Banihal rail line, which will link the Kashmir valley with rest of the country by train. Presently, the trains move up to Katra, the base camp of Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine, from different States via Jammu and Udhampur. In the Kashmir valley, the trains run between Banihal and Baramulla. After the completion of railway line between Katra and Banihal, the Valley will be linked by train with rest of the country.
The Railways Minister announced that 35 kilometers of tunneling out of a total of 95 kilometers has been completed successfully.
He said the project (Udhampur-Srinagar-Banihal) appraisal has been fast tracked by forming a dedicated committee in the Railway Board.
“Monitoring Online System is at final stage of development for Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project,’’ he added.
Prabhu kept a provision of Rs 33 lakh for survey on Jammu-Poonch railway line via Akhnoor and Rajouri. The rail line will have approximate length of 223 kilometers.
He enhanced Jammu and Kashmir’s layout plan by 26 per cent for 2016-17. While the total outlay for 2015-16 was Rs 1643 crores, it has been enhanced by 26 per cent to Rs 2061.18 crores for 2016-17.
The Railways Minister announced construction of two railway over head bridges and 26 sub-ways from Pathankot to Katra railway track.
Prabhu has approved 17 sub-ways in lieu of 15 level crossings on Pathankot-Jammu Tawi and three level crossings on Jammu Tawi-Udhampur railway sections.
Nine sub-ways were announced in lieu of six level crossings on Pathankot-Jammu Tawi and three level crossings on Jammu Tawi-Udhampur railway sections.
One railway over head bridge each was announced for Pathankot-Jammu Tawi and Jammu Tawi-Katra sections on the railway.
While Pathankot-Jammu Tawi road over bridge will be constructed in lieu of level crossing No. B2-54, Jammu Tawi-Shri Mata Vaishno Devi Katra road over bridge will be constructed at kilometer 51.45.
Saying that decongestion work on Jalandhar-Jammu line, another important rail link to Jammu and Kashmir, is going on in full swing, Prabhu announced that doubling of two railway bridges in this line, will be commissioned by March this year while the two other bridges will be completed during upcoming financial year of 2016-17.
The congestion of train traffic on Jalandhar-Jammu railway line quite often leads to delay in movement of trains. The problem will be overcome when the track is doubled on which the work was apace.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Jammu-Poonch Lok Sabha seat, Jugal Kishore Sharma has welcomed development of `Satellite Freight Goods Terminal’ at Bari Brahamana, survey on Jammu-Poonch railway line and other major projects for the State announced by Prabhu in the budget.
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