Infrastructure
A broad gauge railway line (Photo: Suyash Dwivedi/Wikimedia Commons)
A parliamentary panel has recommended the Railway Ministry to expedite 14 strategic rail line projects to improve connectivity to border areas and ease movement of Army during contingencies.
The committee has said this has become more important in the wake of China’s “aggressive” building of infrastructure near border areas.
Taking into account that the railways has completed the surveys of all the 14 lines and three of these have been sanctioned, the standing committee on Government Assurances of Rajya Sabha headed by M Thambidurai has observed that lack of adequate infrastructure on the borders is one of India’s most pressing strategic vulnerabilities.
"These strategic railway lines will definitely strengthen India’s borders as it would ease movement of our Army across the borders during contingencies.
"In the wake of China’s aggressive building of infrastructure near border areas, it has become more important than ever that these strategic railway lines are completed soon," said the report presented in the House.
The committee has recommended the ministry to complete the strategic railway lines as per schedule and also keep it apprised of the development.
These projects include new lines from Murkongselek to Pasighat (26 km) and Missamari-Tenga-Tawang (201.5 km) in Assam and Arunachal; Pathankot-Leh (664 km) in Punjab and Ladakh, Jammu-Akhnoor-Poonch (223 km), Srinagar-Kargil (480 km) in J&K and doubling of Jodhpur-Jaisalmer line in Rajasthan (290-km).
The estimated cost of the 14 projects spread across Jammu and Kashmir, Ladakh, Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Himachal Pradesh is over Rs 3.5 lakh crore.
The Railway Ministry has told the committee that out of 14 projects, three — Murkongselek Pasighat new line, Patti-Ferozpur and Rishikesh-Karnprayag — have been sanctioned.
Support Swarajya's 50 Ground Reports Project & Sponsor A Story
Every general election Swarajya does a 50 ground reports project.
Aimed only at serious readers and those who appreciate the nuances of political undercurrents, the project provides a sense of India's electoral landscape. As you know, these reports are produced after considerable investment of travel, time and effort on the ground.
This time too we've kicked off the project in style and have covered over 30 constituencies already. If you're someone who appreciates such work and have enjoyed our coverage please consider sponsoring a ground report for just Rs 2999 to Rs 19,999 - it goes a long way in helping us produce more quality reportage.
You can also back this project by becoming a subscriber for as little as Rs 999 - so do click on this links and choose a plan that suits you and back us.
Click below to contribute.
Latest