Aspirations of people to be fulfilled by completing rly project: Goyal

New Delhi, December 30

Union Railway Minister Piyush Goyal on Wednesday reviewed the progress of the ongoing Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) national project in Jammu and Kashmir and said the “aspirations” of the people had to be fulfilled by completing the project so that the region remained connected to other parts of the country round the year.

Besides Goyal, Railway Board Chairman and CEO VK Yadav, Northern Railway General Manager Ashutosh Gangal and Chief Administrative Officer of USBRL project Vijay Sharma were also present during the meeting.

Sharma apprised Goyal about the latest status of work on the last leg of the project between Katra-Banihal.

Expressing satisfaction on the progress of the project, Goyal said, “Aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmir have 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.” The minister called upon the engineers working on the project to expedite the remaining portion on the mission mode.

He also instructed them to complete the procurement of materials and permission procedures on time so that there was no delay in the construction of the line.

Gangal shared with the minister that in spite of Ramban and Reasi districts, where the project was under-construction, being declared as a Covid red and orange zones, the work on the projects continued following the Covid standard operating procedures.

“Artisan camps and isolation centres have been provided on sites. And 366 persons working on various points have been detected with the virus, but all have recovered well,” Gangal said.

The USBRL is a national project undertaken by the Indian Railways for the construction of the broad-gauge railway line through the Himalayas with the aim of connecting the Kashmir region with the rest of the country.

The all-weather, comfortable, convenient and cost effective mass transportation system will be the catalyst for the overall development of the northernmost alpine region of the country.

The 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 the Kashmir valley and the Jammu-Udhampur-Katra in Jammu region. — IANS