Union Minister Piyush Goyal reviewed the progress of the ongoing Udhampur Srinagar Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) National Project in Jammu and Kashmir on Wednesday through video conferencing.”The aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir has to be fulfilled by completing the project so that the region gets a good transportation system to remain connected to the rest of the country all the year-round,” Piyush Goyal said expressing his satisfaction on the progress of the project.VK Yadav, CEO and Chairman Railway Board and Ashutosh Gangal, General Manager Northern Railway were also present in the meeting.Vijay Sharma, Chief Administrative Officer/Construction USBRL Project informed Goyal about the latest status of work on the last leg of the project between Katra-Banihal.Goyal called upon the engineers working on the project to accelerate the remaining portion of the project and instructed them to complete the procurement of materials and permission procedures on time so that there is no delay in the construction of the line.”In spite of Ramban and Reasi districts, where the project is under-construction being declared as Covid Red and Orange zones, the work on the projects continued following the COVID-19 protocols,” Ashutosh Gangal informed Goyal.”Artisans camps and isolation centres have been provided on sites. 366 people working on the various points had been detected with the virus, but all have recovered well,” he added.The USBRL is a National project undertaken by the Indian Railways for construction of broad-gauge railway line through the Himalayas with the aim of connecting the Kashmir region with rest of the country.Construction of the first three phases of the project has been completed and the line is in operational use for running of trains between Baramulla-Banihal in Kashmir valley and Jammu-Udhampur-Katra in Jammu region.Three agencies; IRCON, KRCL and Northern Railway with extensive experience in the construction of rail lines are involved in this project. Several sets of tunnelling machineries and cranes have also been imported.Presently, 95 per cent of the Arch work of the Chenab Bridge, world’s tallest railway bridge is complete, while the work on the Anji Bridge, an asymmetric cable-stayed bridge is on in full swing. Moreover, 81.21 km of the total 97.64 km main tunnelling and 53.50 km out of 60.5 km escape tunnel works have been completed. 12 mega and 10 minor bridges have been completed. Laying of the remaining 12 mega bridges and one more minor bridge is to be completed by 2021-22, the Ministry of Railways said
