High-level railway team inspects repair work on flood-hit bridges in Jammu division

Jammu, Sep 7 (PTI) A high-level team of officials headed by Divisional Railway manager Vivek Kumar on Sunday inspected the ongoing repair work on three vital bridges which suffered damages due to recent flash floods in northern railways Jammu division, an official said.

The damage to the rail infrastructure including three vital bridges disrupted the train service in Jammu division in the past fortnight with northern railways announcing cancellation of 68 incoming and outgoing trains from Jammu and Katra stations till September 30.

However, the railways started special train service for stranded passengers before restoring 21 trains on September 4. A fresh landslide on the track between Jammu and Katra on September 4 forced suspension of the newly introduced shuttle service on the track.

The inspection team, including senior divisional commercial manager Uchit Singhal, visited the damaged bridges including bridge number 232 built on Chakki river between Pathankot cantonment and Kandrodi block, bridge number 17 between Kathua (JK) and Madhopur (Punjab) and bridge number 137 on Ghagwal and Hiranagar (JK).

The team conducted a comprehensive inspection of all these bridges and expressed satisfaction over the pace of repair work, the official said, adding that the repair work is expected to be completed soon.

"After the flash floods, a detailed inspection of the infrastructure including 232 bridges was conducted as the safety of passengers is our top priority,” Jammu Divisional Railway Manager said while inspecting the repair work.

He said instructions have been given for early completion of the repair works to resume normal railway services in the division. PTI TAS NB