A team of senior police and railway officials visited various locations in Ramban district on Saturday to review the security arrangements for the upcoming Katra-Banihal railway project, which is part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project.
The team was led by Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG) Doda-Kishtwar-Ramban range Shridhar Patil and included DIG Railway Protection Force (RPF) K K Ashraf, DIG Railway Haseeb-Ur-Rehman, SSP Ramban Anuj Kumar, SSP Railway Dr Harmeet Singh, Binod Kumar SSP RPF, and officers of Railway IRCON.
The officials visited Banihal, Khari, Sumber, Dharam and Sangaldan in Ramban district and inspected the progress of the railway project, which aims to connect Jammu and Kashmir with the rest of India through a series of tunnels and bridges. They interacted with Railway Police officers, Railway Protection Force officers, and Railway Department offices and enquired about the logistics and other security-related issues en route the railway track.
DIG Patil stressed on deploying sufficient security personnel at vantage positions to secure the railway project by all means and providing foolproof security. He also appreciated the efforts of the railway authorities and the contractors for completing the tunneling and track laying work despite the challenges posed by the terrain and the weather.
The Katra-Banihal railway project is expected to be operationalised by January 2024. It will reduce the travel time between Jammu and Srinagar by nearly four hours and provide an all-weather connectivity to the valley. The project involves the construction of several long tunnels, including the T-49 tunnel, which is the longest railway tunnel in India at 12.75 km. The project also features the world’s highest railway bridge over the Chenab river, which is 359 metres above the river bed and 1.3 km long.
The project is considered as a strategic and socio-economic lifeline for Jammu and Kashmir and a marvel of engineering and technology.
