Deoband-Roorkee rail track laying  works having  resumed again, the Chief Secretary S Ramaswamy convened a meeting to review the status of land acquisition of this  project and also of the Rishikesh- Karnpryag rail project on Tuesday. During the meeting, CS was informed that 51 hectare land was required for Deoband-Roorkee rail project which would cost the exchequer  Rs 170 crore. The proposed project would pass through five villages in Uttarakhand.

CS instructed the Haridwar DM to constitute a coordination committee and do joint inspection with the officials of revenue, forest, electricity, water, PWD and horticulture and to fix deadlines too while stressing that the works must be completed by September 2018. He also enquired into the present status of the  Rishikesh- Karnprayag rail track laying project.

He was told by the officials concerned that forest clearance and land acquisition processes are currently lying at different stages. Besides, Rail Nirman Nigam limited (RNMl) has been instructed to disburse the compensation amounts by end of this month.

Notably, the  Rishikesh-Karnparyag rail project, slated to  be completed by 2028, would spread over  126 kilometerswith 12 stations, 17 tunnels and 36 bridges. It will cross through four districts of the state- Tehri, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Chamoli. RNMl has  already done survey work of the  railway line and the  tunnels. It is learnt that  construction of bridge would require  lT (low tension) line  to be diverted.

Besides, the forest department is yet to give clearance for diverting HT (high tension) line  of PITCUl.  This aside, one sewer line installed by Jal Sansthan and three water supply lines along with the forest range office based at Rishikesh are to be shifted.  For the administrative expenses, the four districts concerned have been provided  with Rs 5 crore. Property to be acquired under this project will be assessed by the PWD.

The meeting was attended among others by Secretary Transport D Senthil Pandian, secretary revenue Harbans Singh Chugh, Garhwal Commissioner Vinod Sharma, secretary Arvind Singh Hyanki, additional secretary Urban development Vinod Kumar Suman and chief project engineer Pramod Sharma.