The construction of a 1,012-meter-long tunnel between Shivpuri and Byasi on Indian Railways’ ambitious Rishikesh-Karnaprayag line has been completed in a record 26 days. Announcing the development on Twitter, Uttarakhand Chief Minister Pushkar Singh Dhami said the tunnel was constructed using the New Austrian tunnelling method (NATM) amidst the difficult geographical condition of the route.
The proposed 125.20-km single-track railways line between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag is part of the Char Dham project connecting the four important pilgrimage in the state- Kedarnath, Badrinath, Gangotri, and Yamunotri. The construction of the railway line is slated to reduce the travel time between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag down to just 2 hours. Currently, it takes over 7 hours to travel between the two places via the road route.
https://twitter.com/pushkardhami/status/1516240336489951232?s=20&t=xwQNGFzX4743zffqb0kZDg
The construction of the proposed rail line is set to be completed by December 2024. Earlier this month, Minister of Railways Ashwini Viashnaw in his reply to a question in the Rajya Sabha informed that the Rishikesh – Karanprayag new line project will be completed with an estimated budget of Rs 16,216 crore
Of the total budget, Rs 6618 crore has been spent and an outlay of Rs 4200 crore has been allocated a budget for the 2021-22 financial year. The Rishikesh – Karanprayag railways line was sanctioned in the 2010-2011 budget.
The minister added that the process of land acquisition and forest clearance for the projects had been completed and the railway had also received ‘No Objection Certificates’ from the gram sabhas located along the route. The schemes for the compensation as well as rehabilitation of the affected families have been provided as per the provisions given in three Schedules of the Right to Fair Compensation and Transparency in Land Acquisition, Rehabilitation and Resettlement Act, 2013, Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha.
The rail line will connect the towns Devprayag, Gauchar, Srinagar, Rudraprayag, and Karnaprayag.
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