Railway Minister Piyush Goyal in video conferencing appreciated that the USBRL Project work has been continued in April and May 2021 despite the current Covid-19 situation . Goyal further instructed the authorities to put in extra efforts in the coming months in order to make up for the loss of time due to the second wave of the pandemic. According to the Railway Ministry, the budget of the USBRL Project for the year 2021-22 is Rs 4200 crore. Declared as a National Project in 2002, the USBRL has 272 Km length from Udhampur to Baramulla, joining the valley of Kashmir with the rest of India.
The 25 km long Udhampur – Katra section was commissioned in July 2014. The 118 km long Quazigund – Baramulla section was commissioned in October 2009. The 18 km long Banihal – Quazigund section was commissioned in June 2013 while the 111 km long Katra to Banihal section is still in progress and is expected to be completed by 2022-23.
Here are some of the major achievements during April and May 2021
- Chenab Bridge- The world highest railway bridge’s arch closure was carried out successfully in the month of April. In April, launching of 58 MT and in May, 163 MT has been achieved. The total launching achieved is 10,619 MT. However, due to a rise in Covid-19 cases, recently, the area around kauri end of this bridge has been declared as a micro containment zone and certain restrictions have been imposed.
- Anji Bridge- Main Pylon concreting: 4 metres lift in April and 4 metres lift in May 2021 (up to 24 May 2021). Out of 193 metres of Main Pylon, 130 metres completed. Also, cumulative assembly of segments (55 metres) and launching of 30 metres has been achieved.
- At Bride Number 39 in Reasi area, launching of 32 metres length was done in April and 15 metres in May 2021
- At Bridge Number 43 in Bakkal in Reasi area, launching of 42.5 metres length in April and 9 metres in May (up to 21 May)
- A total of 1.46 Km Tunnel Mining was done in the month of April and 0.78 Km was done in May (up to 24 May)
