Northern Railway wants review of decision to scrap J&K Chenab bridge

ENGINEERING v/s TRAFFIC

''While asking the Railway Board to reconsider its decision on cancelling the Chenab bridge plan, the Northern Railway GM, in his letter, did not talk about the instability of the gorge because of which the sub-contractor could not even excavate the slopes for building the bridge foundation"

New Delhi:- The four-year old project of building the world's highest bridge on the Chenab has been scraped by the Railway Board for lack of safety and stability। However, the Northern Railway has asked the board to "reconsider" its decision on political and extraneous considerations। In a letter on September 20, Northern Railway GM Shri Prakash said he wanted the bridge, which is part of the first rail link to the Valley, to be revived for three broad reasons:-
1) Representations from politicians and local media reports are seeking the resumption of work on the existing alignment.
2) At a review meeting on September 10, J&K Governor N N Vohra "expressed concern" over the suspension of all work since July on the 125 km stretch from Katra to Banihal in the Jammu region, including the Chenab bridge.
3) The issue was "highly sensitive" as the proposal of modifying the Katra-Banihal alignment, including the plan to shift the Chenab bridge a couple of kilometres upstream from a gorge to a wide valley, might lead to "great public resentment in villages that are likely to be excluded with the change of alignment"
Nowhere in his two-page letter did Shri Prakash address the instability of the gorge because of the which project sub-contractor Ultra-Afcons-VSL could not even excavate the slopes for building the foundation of the mega arch bridge. He was silent on this issue although it was the main reason why railway board member (engineering) S K Vij had ordered that all contracts for a 34-km stretch from Katra to Surukot, including the Chenab bridge, be "short closed". Since this "project of national importance" is financed directly from the consolidated fund of India, Shri Prakash also glossed over Vij's concern about the idling claims made by tunnel and bridge contractors for the abandoned 34-km stretch mounting to Rs 1,000 crore, which includes Rs 300crore for the Chenab bridge alone.
The wastage of taxpayer's money on this nonstarter prompted Vij to record on September 26 that Shri Prakash should have "implemented orders to avoid idling claims". As for the GM's argument that the relocation of the track might anger the villages that are likely to be excluded, Vij pointed that the modified alignment would not affect the residents do remote places as the 250-km main access road from Katra to Banihal was still being built.
Rejecting Prakash's plea to stick to the existing alignment, Vij recorded that he should instead have come up with suggestions on what else could be done to alley the apprehensions of locals till work starts on the modified alignment. Though Vij is authorized to have the final say, Shri Prakash has continued to defy him and has still not terminated the contracts, which are pilling up the government's liabilities.