Sanjeev Pargal
JAMMU, July 30: The Gool incident of July 18 has cast its shadow on commissioning of much awaited railway line to holy town of Katra, the base camp of Shri Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine in Reasi district, whose launch, which was earlier scheduled latest by August end, has been deferred till October.
Trouble created by the local people in Gool followed by security forces firing that led to four fatal casualties and injuries to 42 others has frightened skill labour, which comes from Jharkhand and West Bengal, which left home fearing for their lives after the incident while the labour, which had gone to their houses for few days, has delayed their return, official sources said.
Chief Administrative Officer (CAO), Construction Division of Railways, Bhagwan Dass Garg told the Excelsior that the Railways staff was on the job 24×7 to complete left out work on Udhampur-Katra railway track as early as possible but admitted that skilled labour has become a problem in view of Gool incident.
“Though the Gool incident has nothing to do in Udhampur and Katra, which were completely peaceful, the outside labour didn’t understand topography of the State. As skilled labour mostly comes from Jharkhand and West Bengal, some of them left after the incident while those, who had already gone on leave, have delayed their return,’’ he said, adding the Railways was expecting return of the skilled labour in the next few days.
Bhagwan Dass said the construction of tunnel No. 1, which was the major problem on Udhampur-Katra track, has been completed and the track was being laid now. Only 2.5 to 3 kilometers work for laying of track inside the tunnel has been left while rest of the track has been laid, he added.
Sources said the Railways Construction Division was confident that the work would gain momentum with the return of skilled labour from Jharkhand and West Bengal and the Railways would be able to commission much awaited Udhampur-Katra rail track during Navratra falling in the month of October this year.
Taking rail line to Katra was quite significant as 25,000 to 30,000 pilgrims reach the holy town daily for pilgrimage of Mata Vaishno Devi ji shrine. Sometimes, the number goes as high as 40,000 to 45,000.
The ballast-less track is being laid on the Udhampur-Katra section, which is 25 kilometers in length and involved about 11 km of tunneling, nine major bridges, 29 minor bridges and 10 rail overbids/rail under-bridges.
The tallest bridge in this section is 85m high (Bridge No. 20) and the longest tunnel is 3.15 km long. All the tunneling as well as bridge works have been completed.
The ballast-less track is being laid on the Udhampur-Katra section, which involved about 11 km of tunneling, nine major bridges, 29 minor bridges and 10 rail overbids/rail under-bridges.
Sources said the Department was mulling to extend Jammu Mail and Sampark Kranti, both Jammu-New Delhi trains to Katra from Udhampur, Delhi-Pathankot Express from Pathankot (Punjab) to Katra and introduce new trains including Katra-Kalka (Chandigarh) Express (bi-weekly), Delhi Sarai Rohilla-Udhampur Express, (fully air conditioned) and Ahmedabad-Udhampur Express initially to Katra when the track was commissioned.
Besides a set of local trains from Jammu to Katra and Pathankot to Katra could also be introduced to clear the rush of Mata Vaishno Devi pilgrims from Jammu and Pathankot to Katra. At the later stage, more trains could be introduced to Katra or extended from Jammu and Udhampur.
Sources said the trains would link Katra to various major stations of India.
Trial run will be conducted on the route after the completion of laying the track and the Commissioner Railway Safety will inspect the line before giving the clearance.
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