Chief Minister Trivendra Singh Rawat asked officials of Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) to further expedite work on the Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line.
He stressed that the State Government will provide full cooperation for resolving any type of problem. The CM said this while interacting with RVNL officials regarding the progress of this ambitious project.
The 125.20 kilometre long Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail line will have 12 stations while 105.47 kilometres of the total length will comprise 17 tunnels. The construction of railway station in Rishikesh has been completed. One tunnel has been constructed while five are under construction.
Further, work has started on three main railway bridges including the 300 metre bridge across the Chandrabhaga river, 275 metre bridge across the Alaknanda at Lachmoli and 450 metre bridge across the Alaknanda at Srinagar. The work on the remaining bridges will be undertaken along with the tunnel work.
Rawat asked the officials to expedite work on the project with special focus on quality, pace and transparency. Construction of this rail line will provide a major facility to people of Uttarakhand and the pilgrims and tourists visiting the State.
He also said that a rose garden with various varieties of roses should be developed at Rishikesh railway station. The RVNL officials also made a presentation on the Doiwala-Uttarkashi-Badkot rail line informing that the survey for this line has been completed.
This 122 kilometre long rail line is estimated to cost about Rs 24,000 crore. Survey has been completed for 10 stations between Uttarkashi and Doiwala, 24 tunnels and 19 bridges.
Rawat said that this line will prove helpful for boosting tourism and marketing of agricultural produce and local products.
The RNVL chief project manager Himanshu Badoni, additional general manager Vijay Dangwal, project director Surendra Kumar and others were present in the meeting.