Jammu, Sep 30: Divisional Commissioner Jammu, Ramesh Kumar on Friday chaired a meeting to review the progress of work on Katra -Banihal stretch of Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line project and inquired about the issues hampering the progress.
The Railway officers apprised the Div Com about the alignment, latest progress of work, salient features of the project, challenges, issues which need to be resolved.
It was informed that the total length of the USBRL is 272 KM, out of which 161 KM has already been commissioned, while work on the remaining length of 111 Km from Katra to Banihal is in progress. It was informed that the work is expected to complete in June 2023.
It is pertinent to mention that the golden joint of world’s highest railway bridge on river Chenab was launched last month.
The Divisional Commissioner reviewed in detail the progress on land acquisition, disbursement of compensation etc.
It was informed that the land acquisition has been completed and the majority of it has been provided to the railways in both the districts for execution of work. The railway officers projected some issues on which the Div Com instructed DCs to personally follow the land acquisition cases, disputes if any and ensure the work on the prestigious project is not hampering.
Responding to the issue of pendency in the disbursement of some land compensation cases, the Div Com directed the Deputy Commissioners to expedite the process to ensure 100 percent disbursement of compensation to the owners.
He directed Deputy Commissioners of Reasi and Ramban to hold regular meetings with Railways authorities and resolve the bottlenecks pertaining to Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Railway Line on priority.
The Railways Engineers also apprised the Div Com that some utility shifting work is pending at some location of both the districts.
The Div Com directed the Engineers of Jammu Power Distribution Corporation Ltd to expedite the work on shifting of lines so that work on the prestigious railway project was executed smoothly.
The Div Com exhorted district administration Ramban and Reasi to hold regular meetings with railway engineers and resolve all the issues on priority.
The meeting was attended by Chief Engineer, North, B B S Tomar; Chief Engineer south USBRL Northern Railway, Sandeep Gupta; Executive Director, Assistant Commissioner central, Pritam Lal, Deputy Director Planning, Munish Dutta besides concerned Chief Engineers, Deputy Chief Engineers of Railways, while Deputy Commissioner Reasi and Ramban alongwith other concerned officers attended the meeting through video conferencing.
