JK CM stresses completion of 4-lane NH & Railway works

  Jammu, February 25 (Scoop News) –  J&K Chief Minister, Omar Abdullah on Friday emphasized on timeline completion of 4-lane National Highway and Railway projects to realize the cherished goal of modern and dependable communication in the State.

            “Coordinated efforts by the State and National Agencies are required to push forward construction of highway from Lakhanpur to Srinagar and railway line from Udhampur to Qazigund”, he asserted and said that both the projects are significantly important for the holistic development of the State and provide alternate connectivity.

        Taking appraisal of the status of the duo projects at a high level meeting he chaired here, the Chief Minister directed the Revenue Department to ensure speedy payment of compensation to the people for the land being procured for these projects.

        Omar directed for monthly monitoring of land compensation cases by the Divisional Commissioners of Kashmir and Jammu asking them to submit status report to him on monthly basis. “I do not want any delay to take palce in the completion of projects for land compensation or other aspects being looked after by the State departments”, he said.

            Omar Abdullah said that these ambitious communication projects need to be given considerable fillip and every bottleneck removed that may delay the progress of implementation at various stages. “Our endeavour should be to move forward on fast track and ensure completion of targets as per the schedule”, he said.  

        Principal Secretary R&B, K. B. Agarwal briefed the meeting about the progress on the two projects while in separate PowerPoint presentations by Chief General Manager National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and Chief Engineer, Railway Projects, J&K, gave resume of the current status of the road and railway projects.

        It was stated that out of the 400 kilometer National Highway project, a part of North-South corridor, as many as 114 kilometer road stretch from Lakhanpur to Jammu including 15 kilometers Jammu Bye-pass and 17.80 kilometers Srinagar Bye-pass is under progress at a cost of Rs. 592 crores.

            The balance work from Jammu to Srinagar comprising of 6 BOT packages is under various stages of execution. The major structures in these packages include two tunnels of 9.2 kilometers and 8.5 kilometers length besides 12 numbers of short tunnels of 6.2 kilometers length. As many as 43 major bridges and 24 viaducts are being constructed under these packages on the Jammu-Srinagar stretch of the road project.

        It was stated that the work on first package unit of 67.76 kilometers from Srinagar to Banihal would start in May 2011 while the work on 15.25 kilometers Qazigund-Banihal tunnel constituting second package would commence in March 2011. The work on 12 Kilometer Chenani-Nashri tunnel is on launching pad while the work on 65 kilometers Udhampur-Jammu road stretch would be started by March 2011. The 36 kilometer Banihal-Ramban stretch and 43 kilometers Ramban-Udhampur are under re-bidding process.

        The meeting was informed that the work on railway project is in progress. It was stated that the estimated cost of the project is 19,565 crores of which Rs. 6,844 crores have been expended so far. The outlay for 2010-11 is of the order of Rs. 1,000 crore. The 119 kilometer Qazigund-Baramulla section with 15 stations, 63 major bridges, 748 minor bridges has been completed and commissioned.

        The work on 25 kilometer Udhampur-Katra section is on. It envisages 9 major bridges, 29 minor bridges including 85 meter high and 154 meter long steel girdle-bridge of first of its kind in the country. It also envisages construction of 7 tunnels with a total length of 10.90 kilometer the longest tunnel will be 3.18 kilometers and there will be three stations in this section. The outstanding feature of construction in this stretch is the 85 meter tall pier of a bridge at Jhazzar Khad on Udhampur-Katra section which will be 13 meters taller than Qutub Minar (72 meters). This pier will form part of the largest single span of 154 meter bridge on Indian Railways.

        The meeting was informed that work is in progress on re-certification and construction of new diversion tunnel for tunnel T-1 and blocking the seepage in tunnel T-3 in Udhampur-Katra section. Modern technology and geographical studies are being utilized to make these tunnels viable and dependable.

        The meeting was informed that the 129 Katra-Qazigund section of the railway project envisages construction of 9 stations, boring of 36 tunnels of the length of 105 Kilometers. The longest tunnel will be 11.17 kilometers long. There will be 34 major and 44 minor bridges including the World’s highest bridge at the height of 359 meters with 467 meters long steel arch. The total length of this bridge will be 1.3 kilometers.

        The December 2011 is the target for boring of 11.17 kilometers longest transportation tunnel between Banihal at Qazigund in Pir Panchal range. The borings of tunnels T-43 and T-44 have been completed in July 2010 and December 2010 respectively.

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