Lok Sabha Question No. 48 (STARRED), answered on 2020-02-05
Subject: Railway Lines in Uttarakhand
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ajay Bhatt

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK SABHA

## STARRED QUESTION NO. 48 TO BE ANSWERED ON 05.02.2020

## RAILWAY LINES IN UTTARAKHAND

†*48.  SHRI AJAY BHATT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) the progress report/current status of the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag and Tanakpur-Bageshwar railway lines in Uttarakhand;
- (b) whether  the  construction  work  of  the  said  railway  lines  has started;
- (c) if so, the details thereof and the time by which the said work is likely to be completed;
- (d) whether  the  demand  to  link  Ramnagar-Chaukhutia  railway  line with Gairsain in Uttarakhand is being considered;
- (e) if so, the details thereof; and
- (f) if not, reasons therefor?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY (SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

- (a) to (f)   A Statement is laid on the Table of the House.

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STATEMENT REFERRED TO IN REPLY TO PARTS (a) TO (f) OF STARRED QUESTION  NO.  48  BY  SHRI  AJAY  BHATT  TO  BE  ANSWERED  IN  LOK SABHA ON 05.02.2020 REGARDING RAILWAY LINES IN UTTARAKHAND

(a) to  (c)  Rishikesh-Karnaprayag  new  line  project  was  sanctioned  in budget  2010-11.    Latest  cost  of  the  project  is 16,216  crore,  out  of which, an expenditure of 1,361 crore has been incurred up to March, 2019.    The  current  status  of  Rishikesh-Karnaprayag  rail  line  project  is given below;

Works  of  Final  Location  Survey,  Land  Acquisition,  Forest  Clearance, Geo  Technical  Investigation  and  Approach  road  for  the  entire  project have been completed.

Works  in  1 st   Block  section  between  Virbhadra  and  Yognagri  Rishikesh (5.7 km) has been taken up.  One Road Under Bridge (RUB) and one Road Over Bridge (ROB) in Rishikesh have been completed.  Construction of one important Rail Bridge over river Chandrabhaga  near Rishikesh has been taken up.

In remaining sections,   construction of an Important Rail Bridge No. 8 at Lachmoli  and  Bridge  No.  9  at  Srinagar  over  river  Alaknanda  has  been taken up.  Construction of three Road bridges at Srinagar, Gauchar and Kaleshwar over river Alaknanda  have been taken up.  Total 16 tunnels are  to  be  constructed  which  have  been  divided  in  10  packages.    Also construction work at 6 Adits of 6 Tunnels have been taken up.   Design and Project Management Consultant (PMC) contracts have been awarded and design works have been taken up in all the packages.    Action for awarding of contracts have been taken up.

Tanakpur-Bageshwar railway line: Survey for Tanakpur-Bageshwar, 155km route was completed in 2010-11.  Anticipated cost of the project at the price level of 2010-11 was 2,791 crore.    As per survey report, project was  found  financially  unviable,  as  such  it  could  not  be  taken  forward. Updating survey for this project has been sanctioned in 2018-19. Updating survey has been taken up.

The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors  like quick land acquisition by State Government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, shifting of infringing utilities (both underground and over  ground),  statutory  clearances  from  various  authorities,  geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions, encountering unforeseen  conditions  like earthquake,    flooding,    excessive    rains,    strikes    of  labour,  orders  of Hon'ble Courts, situation and conditions  of working agencies/contractors etc. All these factors vary from project to project & site to site and affect the completion time and cost of the project, which is finally worked out at the completion stage.  As such no confirmed time line can be given for completion of these projects at this stage.

(d)  to  (f)    Survey  for  Ramnagar-Chaukhutia-Gairsain,  212  km  long    new line has been sanctioned in 2015-16.  Field survey has been completed. Preparation of survey report has been taken up.

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