No timeline set for completion of Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line: Vaishnaw

New Delhi, Aug 7 (PTI) The exact timeline for the completion of the 125 km-long railway line between Rishikesh and Karnaprayag cannot be fixed, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed the Lok Sabha.

In a written response to a question from BJP MP Baluni, he said sanctioning of projects is a continuous and dynamic process and exact timelines cannot be given.

"The completion of any Railway project depends on various factors like quick land acquisition by state government, forest clearance by officials of forest department, deposition of cost share by state government in cost sharing projects, priority of projects, shifting of infringing utilities, statutory clearances from various authorities, geological and topographical conditions of area, law and order situation in the area of project(s) site, number of working months in a year for particular project site due to climatic conditions etc," he said.

According to Vaishnaw, after firming up the Detailed Project Report, sanctioning of the project requires consultation with various stakeholders, including state governments and necessary approvals such as appraisal of NITI Aayog and Ministry of Finance, etc.

Vaishnaw said the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag project is a prestigious project of Indian Railways, which lies completely in the state of Uttarakhand and passes through difficult geological and challenging terrain of the Himalayas.

"This project is aimed at transforming connectivity in Uttarakhand. The project alignment passes through Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Chamoli Districts of Uttarakhand and will provide rail connectivity to Devprayag and Karnaprayag religious and tourist spots with Rishikesh and the national capital ," he said.

He added, "The alignment of the project predominantly passes through tunnels. The project involves the construction of 16 main line tunnels of 105 km length, 12 escape tunnels of about 98 km length and 10 km of adits/cross passages. So far, 13 main line tunnels and nine escape tunnels have been completed." Vaishnaw informed the House that 8 adits (openings) in various tunnels were also identified to increase the progress of work.

"Works of all eight adits have also been completed. Accordingly, tunnelling of 199 km against total scope of 213 km has been completed. For the first time in Indian Railways, Tunnel Boring Machine (TBM) was deployed in the Himalayan geology for faster execution of works of longest tunnel (T-8) which is 14.8Km long. Breakthrough of twin tunnels through TBMs has been achieved," Vaishnaw said.

Highlighting environmental concerns, he said the tunnelling is being carried out with all precautions and latest technologies to ensure minimum damage to ecology and surroundings.

"The final location survey of Chardham Project- connectivity link to Gangotri, Yamunotri, Kedarnath and Badrinath with Indian Railways has been completed. The project has two alignments -- Doiwala-Uttarkashi-Barkot which will serve Yamnotari and Gangotri shrines and Karnaprayag- Saikot- Sonprayag- Joshimath will serve Kedarnath and Badrinath shrines," he added. PTI JP DV DV