Lok Sabha Question No. 247 (STARRED), answered on 2020-03-11
Subject: Railway Projects in Uttarakhand
Ministry: RAILWAYS
Asked by: Ajay Bhatt

## GOVERNMENT OF INDIA MINISTRY OF RAILWAYS

## LOK  SABHA STARRED QUESTION NO. 247 TO BE ANSWERED ON 11.03.2020

## RAILWAY PROJECTS IN UTTARAKHAND

## †*247. SHRI  AJAY BHATT:

Will the Minister of RAILWAYS be pleased to state:

- (a) whether  the  Government  has  started  projects  with  respect  to the doubling/electrification/new rail lines in Uttarakhand;
- (b) if so, the details thereof;
- (c) whether the funds allocated for rail projects are not in accordance  with the amount required and as a result, the rail projects in Uttarakhand are being delayed;
- (d) if not, the reasons for delay in rail projects in Uttarakhand; and
- (e) the details of the targets fixed for the big projects in Uttarakhand?

## ANSWER

MINISTER OF RAILWAYS AND COMMERCE & INDUSTRY

(SHRI PIYUSH GOYAL)

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

****

STATEMENT  REFERRED  TO  IN  REPLY  TO  PARTS  (a)  TO  (e)  OF STARRED  QUESTION  NO.  247  BY  SHRI  AJAY  BHATT  TO  BE ANSWERED  IN  LOK  SABHA  ON  11.03.2020  REGARDING  RAILWAY PROJECTS IN UTTARAKHAND

(a)  and  (b):  Railway  projects  are  not  sanctioned  State-wise,  but Zone-wise,  as  Indian  Railway's  network  straddles  across  various State  boundaries.  However,  1  doubling  and  3  new  lines  projects, costing ` 18,900 crore covering a length of 243 km, falling fully/partly in the State of Uttarakhand are under different stages of planning/sanction/ execution.  The details of these projects are as under:

## (I)  DOUBLING:

Haridwar-Laksar (27.03 km):

Haridwar-Laksar  doubling  project  was  included  in  the  Budget 2012-13. The latest anticipated cost of the project is ` 346.63 crore. An  expenditure  of ` 204.28  crore  has  been  incurred  upto  March, 2019.  17  Km  long  Ikkar-Laksar  section  has  been  completed  in October, 2019. Work has been taken up in balance section.

## (II)   NEW LINES:

3  New  line  projects  covering  a  length  of  216  Km  at  a  cost  of ` 18,554  crore.  An  expenditure  of ` 1,849  crore  has  been  incurred upto March, 2019.  The details of the projects are as under:

## (i) Rishikesh-Karnaprayag (125.09 km):

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.

## (ii) Kichha-Khatima (57.70 Km):

Kichha-Khatima  new  line  project  was  included  in  the  Budget 2003-04 at a original cost of ` 165.67 crore subject to providing land free  of  cost  by  the  Government  of  Uttarakhand.  Subsequently, based  on  request  from  the  State  Government,  survey  for  new alternate alignment Lalkaun-Sitarganj- Khatima was carried out. As per the revised survey report, the cost of 63 km. long line had been assessed  as ` 1546.24  crore  in  which,  the  cost  of  land  alone  is ` 528.69 crore. State Government of Uttarakhand has been requested for approval of alignment and for giving their consent for providing land free of cost for the revised alignment.

## (iii) Deoband (Muzzafar Nagar)-Roorkee (27.45 km):

Deoband (Muzzafar Nagar)-Roorkee (27.45 Km) new line project was included in the Budget 2007-08. Anticipated cost of the project 791.36  crore.  It  is  cost  sharing  project  with  Government  of Uttarakhand,  in  which  Government  of  Uttarakhand  is  sharing  50% cost  of  the  project.  Land  acquisition  in  Uttarakhand  and  Uttar Pradesh has been taken up. Construction work has been taken up in is ` available land.

## (III)    RAILWAY ELECTRIFICAITON:

2 Railway Electrification projects covering a length of 197 Km falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Uttarakhand  are  also  in  different stages of planning/execution. The details are as under:

|   S. No. | Section                                                                 |   Total Route Kilometre |   Route Kilometre falls in the State of Uttarakhand |
|----------|-------------------------------------------------------------------------|-------------------------|-----------------------------------------------------|
|        1 | Moradabad-Kashipur-Ramnagar, Rampur-Lalkua-Kashipur and Bareilly-Lalkua |                     309 |                                                 160 |
|        2 | Shahanjahanpur-Pilibhit, Pilibhit- Tanakpur                             |                     145 |                                                  37 |

## (c)  to  (e):  BUDGET  OUTLAY  (FOR  THE PROJECTS FALLING FULLY/ PARTLY IN THE STATE OF UTTARAKHAND):

Sufficient funds have been allotted for Railway projects falling fully/partly in the State of Uttarakhand.

Average  Annual  Budget  allocation  for  infrastructure  projects and  safety  works,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Uttarakhand, during 2014-19 has increased to ` 672 crore per year, from ` 187 crore per year (during 2009-14). Thus the average annual budget allocation during 2014-19 is 259% more than average annual budget allocation of 2009-14 ( ` 187 crore per year).

Total  Budget  allotment  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety works,  falling  fully/partly  in  the  State  of  Uttarakhand  for  financial year 2019-20 is ` 903 crore, which is 383% more than average budget outlay of 2009-14.

Further,  budget  outlay  of ` 1780  crore  has  been  proposed  for 2020-21  for  infrastructure  projects  and  safety  works  falling  fully/ partly  in  the  State  of  Uttarakhand,  which  is  852%  more  than  the average    annual  Budget  outlay  of  2009-14  ( ` 187  crore)  and  165% more than average annual Budget outlay of 2014-19 ( ` 672 crore).

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.

******