Banihal-Hingni stretch in Jammu & Kashmir may be completed by THIS month, details here

Aiming at providing seamless and hassle-free connectivity to Kashmir Valley, the government has stressed on the completion of the prestigious Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line (USBRL) project on time. According to an official, work on the USBRL project’s 23-km stretch from Banihal to Hingni in Jammu-Kashmir is expected to be finished by the end of June, reported PTI.  

Set to meet deadline 

Nadeem Shamas, Project Manager of ABCI Infrastructure, said: “The stretch from Banihal to Hingni of the USBRL project will get ready for operations by June 30,” and added that the work is going on fast to achieve the deadline and most of the tunnels-bridges work has been completed

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“Near Krawa village, the 765 meter-long cut and cover tunnel is almost finished. T 78 tunnel is also almost completed with Ballastless Track (BLT) laying works expected to be completed by April end,” said the project manager. 

Tunnel and bridge work in full swing

The T 77D tunnel, merging with an old tunnel having over 2.5 km length, is undergoing lining works– all set to be finished by next month. The tunnel will be handed over to Northern Railways once the BLT work is finished by May 30 after the completion of lining work, he said.

Ninety-three percent work on the under-construction 111-km Banihal-Katra section, a total of 37 bridges and 35 tunnels, is completed, said Northern Railways, reported PTI. According to  Deputy Commissioner, Ramban, Mussarat Islam, “Out of the 111-km, 53 km goes through  Ramban district and 87 percent of this length is covered by tunnels. 

Full support of district administration

The district administration has fairly supported the execution companies be it Northern Railways, IRCON or Konkan railway, said Islam. Labour related issues crop up but the administration actively resolves them so that the work is not hampered, he said.

The USBRL, which is 272 km-long, was declared as a national project in 2002. Out of the total 272-km USBRL project, 161 km was commissioned in phases as the first phase of 118-km Qazigund-Baramulla section commissioned in October 2009, which was followed by 18-km Banihal-Qazigund in June 2013 and 25-km Udhampur-Katra in July 2014. Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw are reported to be monitoring this prestigious national project personally.