Construction of the strategic Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line in Uttarakhand has crossed a major execution milestone, with 99 Km of main line tunnels and over 94 Km of escape tunnels completed, while 8 out of 19 major bridges planned along the route have already been finished, Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw informed Parliament.
The 125 Km railway project, sanctioned to provide rail connectivity to the Char Dham region, will pass through Dehradun, Tehri Garhwal, Pauri Garhwal, Rudraprayag and Chamoli districts, linking Devprayag and Karnaprayag religious centres with Rishikesh and the National Capital.
Engineering work on the corridor is heavily tunnel-driven due to the Himalayan terrain.
The project includes 16 main tunnels covering 104 Km and 12 escape tunnels of about 98 Km, underscoring the scale and technical complexity involved.
“So far, main line tunnels of 99 Km length and 09 escape tunnels of over 94 Km length have been completed,” Vaishnaw said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Wednesday (11 February).
To accelerate excavation, authorities identified 8 adits to create additional tunnel work fronts.
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All eight adits, covering nearly 5 Km, have been completed, helping expedite long tunnel construction, the minister said.
“The project also involves construction of 19 important or major bridges. 8 out of 19 important or major bridges have also been completed. Works in balance bridges have also been taken up,” the minister said.
According to the section-wise update shared by the minister, the Virbhadra-Yog Nagari Rishikesh (4.7 Km) stretch is already completed and commissioned.
On the Yog Nagari Rishikesh-Shivpuri (13.4 Km) section, 94 per cent excavation of the 10.8 Km tunnel has been achieved and the sole major bridge has been completed.
The Shivpuri-Byasi (14.3 Km) segment has one tunnel completed, excavation of the second finished with lining underway, and both major bridges constructed.
Similarly, on the Byasi-Devprayag (15 Km) stretch, three out of four tunnels are complete, with 69 per cent excavation of the fourth tunnel finished, while all four major bridges have been built.
Tunnel works are fully complete on the Devprayag-Janasu (14.8 Km), Janasu-Maletha (4.7 Km) and Maletha-Srinagar (5.2 Km) sections, while the Janasu-Maletha stretch has also seen its sole major bridge completed.
On the Srinagar-Dhari Devi (11.2 Km) section, tunnel excavation is complete and lining is in progress; one of three bridges is finished and work continues on the remaining two.
Excavation and lining on the tunnel are also underway on the Dhari Devi-Tilani (17.6 Km) stretch, where construction of a major bridge has been taken up.
The Tilani-Gholtir (7.6 Km) segment has achieved 79 per cent tunnel excavation, with work started on both bridges.
Meanwhile, tunnels on the Gholtir-Gauchar (7.8 Km) and Gauchar-Karnaprayag (8.4 Km) sections have been excavated, lining is ongoing, and construction of three bridges has been initiated on the Gauchar-Karnaprayag stretch.
With substantial tunnelling already achieved and bridge construction progressing, the Rishikesh-Karnaprayag rail line is emerging as one of India’s most ambitious mountain railway projects, expected to significantly improve pilgrimage, regional and strategic connectivity across Uttarakhand once completed.
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