Jammu to Baramulla railway link likely to miss deadline

After examining initial reports, the parliamentary standing committee on railways fears that the proposed rail link between Jammu and Baramulla may not be completed during the Eleventh Five-Year Plan (2007-2012), as envisaged earlier.

A passenger train service between Rajwansher in Budgam district and Anantnag in J&K, covering 66 kms towards the northern end of the link, had started last year. But the second leg of the project — a 148-km link from Katra to Qazigund — has been hampered by major technical difficulties, including realignment issues.

Last year, the railways had to suspend the work due to major defects in the alignment of the 125-km track between Katra and Banihal at altitudes ranging between 800 metres and 1,700 metres.

Basudeb Acharia, chairman of the committee, told Business Standard, “We don’t think the project will be completed by 2012 as the problems are serious and it will take a long time to rebuild the links.”

The committee feels the second leg of the prestigious project, started in 1998 by the then prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, has to be started afresh with a new plan and land acquisition process. Meanwhile, the railways have roped in foreign consultants to suggest the new alignment. According to PTI, Austrian expert John Golser has been included in the seven-member committee headed by former Railway Board Chairman M Ravindra.