Railway Ministry yet to fix timeline for completion of Katra-Banihal section

*Parliamentary Panel’s recommendations not taken seriously

Mohinder Verma
JAMMU, Mar 12: Notwithstanding the concern expressed by the Parliamentary Panel over slow pace of work on Katra-Banihal rail line, the Railways Ministry has yet not fixed any timeline for completion of this vital link and is still making the excuse of difficult terrain to cover up the slackness on the part of project executing agencies. Moreover, the Ministry has completely rejected the rail connectivity to twin mountainous districts of Doda and Kishtwar by dubbing the project as un-remunerative.
In order to ensure timely completion of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL), the Railway Ministry had divided the project into three main legs—Udhampur-Katra, Katra-Qazigund and Qazigund-Baramulla.
Though Udhampur-Katra, Qazigund-Baramulla and Qazigund-Banihal sections were completed albeit several years beyond their stipulated deadline, the fate of Katra-Banihal section is still hanging in balance and nobody knows when this vital link, which was planned to ensure railway connectivity of Kashmir valley with rest of the country, will be completed.
The 111-kilometers long Katra-Banihal project includes construction of several bridges and tunnels of which Chenab Bridge is one. Though the work on all the bridges as well as tunnels is going on but the authorities directly connected with the execution of works are tight-lipped over the completion time-frame, which indicates that they have nothing to convey about the status of work.
“The land required for the line is already under the control of project executing agencies. Moreover, there is no opposition from the people to the land acquisition process”, sources said, adding “the main reason behind snail’s pace work on different components of this project is only the slackness of the executing agencies”.
When contacted, Deputy Chief Engineer of the Katra-Banihal project, Neeraj Kumar refused to share the status of the work. “I cannot disclose the present status of the project….you have to contact the headquarters”. When asked about the officers concerned in the headquarters, the Deputy Chief Engineer said, “I don’t know”.
When specifically asked about the time-frame for completion of the 111 kilometer long line, he said, “I cannot even disclose this to media”. The officer even declined to share details vis-à-vis number of tunnels and bridges on the line and impediment if any in completion of work.
“It is because of slackness of the executing agencies that even Railway Ministry has chosen not to fix any time-line for completion of the project in order to avoid embarrassment following missing of deadlines, which has become a routine particularly in respect of this section”, sources informed.
This was also substantiated by the Minister of State in the Ministry of Railways, Manoj Sinha, in reply to the question of Rajya Sabha MP from Jammu, Shamsher Singh Manhas yesterday. “The alignment of Katra-Banihal section passes through very difficult terrain of young Himalayas involving geological uncertainties as such it is not feasible to fix timeline for completion of this project”, the Minister said.
The excuse of the Minister is notwithstanding the fact that in 2014 the Railways Ministry had fixed deadline of 2018 for completion of this vital link, which would provide complete connectivity to the Kashmir valley with rest of the country by train.
The stand taken by the Railways Ministry owing to slackness of project executing agencies is notwithstanding the fact that a Parliamentary Panel in its report to the Parliament last year had observed: “No doubt this section is passing through rugged and hostile terrain and the same is being projected as one of the reasons behind slow progress but this cannot be a tenable reason for the project to remain incomplete especially when entire project has already suffered very prolonged delay”.
In order to ensure that remaining leg is completed without any further delay, the Parliamentary Panel had stressed that Railway Board shall monitor the progress on monthly basis so as to meet the expectations of the nation in terms of providing the citizens within the Valley and outside Kashmir a faster, cheaper, reliable and comfortable mode of transportation and to bring about socio-economic development of Jammu and Kashmir.
“From the prevailing situation, it has become amply clear that the recommendations of the Parliamentary Panel have not been taken seriously till date”, sources said.
Meanwhile, the Railway Ministry has completely rejected the rail connectivity to twin mountainous districts of Doda and Kishtwar by dubbing the project as un-remunerative.
In reply to the question of BJP MP from Jammu Shamsher Singh Manhas in this regard, the MoS in Railways said, “a survey for Udhampur- Doda-Premnagar- Bhaderwah and Doda- Kishtwar (224 km) new line was completed in 2011-12”.
“As per the report, the project was assessed at a cost of Rs 12,040 crore with a negative rate of return of 5.34%. The project could not be taken up due to a huge throw forward of ongoing projects and its un-remunerative nature and limited availability of funds for new lines”, the Minister said.