Dehradun, November 9
The much-awaited foundation stone of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line was laid by Union Minister of Defence AK Antony and Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi in the absence of UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi at Gauchar, Chamoli district, today. Union Minister of State for Railways H. Muniyappa and Bharat Solani were also present on the occasion.
More than 15,000 persons who gathered at Gauchar to watch the historic occasion of the laying of the foundation stone of the railway line from the foothills of Rishikesh to the lofty Himalayan mountains in Garhwal Himalayas were disappointed as Sonia Gandhi could not make to the function due to indisposition.
It was Union Defence Minister AK Antony who along with Union Railways Minister Dinesh Trivedi laid the foundation stone of the railway line that will bring socio-economic development to the backward region besides giving a tremendous boost to the tourism.
Addressing a rally organised by the state Congress, Antony said the railway line would be strategically important and extended till Badrinath near the China border.
Trivedi also announced the survey work of the railway line beyond Karanprayag up to Chamoli. He said work on the Tanakpur-Bageshwar railway line would also be taken up soon.
Earlier, talking about the criticism of Chief Minister BC Khanduri for not being invited to the function, Trivedi said there was no question of any controversy as he had personally invited Khanduri and talked to him twice yesterday.
The function had become a bone of contention between the ruling BJP and the Congress in the state. With the Assembly elections nearing, both political parties did not want to miss any opportunity to take credit of any such development.
Congress leaders wanted to use the stone-laying functio to launch their election campaign in the backyard of the Chief Minister who belong to Garhwal. Senior state Congress leaders, party president Yashpal Arya, Union Minister of State for Agriculture, Food Processing and Parliamentary Affairs Harish Rawat, all party MPs from the state, Vijay Bahuguna, Satpal Maharaj, Padeep Tamta and KC Singh Baba and party general secretary Birender Singh were also present.
Vijay Bahuguna, MP from Tehri Garhwal, read out the speech of Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Dehradun, November 9
With the laying of the foundation stone of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line at Gauchar in Chamoli district today, dream of Darban Singh Negi, the first Victoria Cross winner from Garhwal became a reality. He won the award for bravery in France during the First World War.
Getting his Victoria Cross from King George IV in 1923, Negi, who had to walk miles to reach his village, Kafartir, in Kaddakot Patti in Chamoli district, requested the King for a railway link up to Chamoli. The then British government had agreed to his request and ordered the then United Province Government to allocate funds for the project.
The first survey of the Rishikesh-Chamoli railway link was done in 1927. Earlier, train had reached Dehradun, the foothills of Garhwal in 1901. However, the train could not reach the hill station of Mussoorie and Chamoli even after several efforts.
In early 1900s, the four main shrines of Uttarakhand - Badrinath, Kedarnath, Gangotri and Yamunotri, collectively known as the Char Dhams of the Garhwal Himalayas, could be reached only by foot.
Motorable roads came into existence in the first half of the 20th century. The credit goes to the British. The roads were opened for pilgrims in 1934, making Rishikesh the gateway to the lofty mountains of the Garhwal Himalayas.
The proposed Rishikesh-Karanprayag rail line will traverse through the districts of Dehradun (Rishikesh), Tehri, Rudraprayag and Chamoli.
It was only in 1996 that Satpal Maharaj, then Union Minister of State for Railways, who was a Lok Sabha member from Pauri Garhwal, that again a survey was done on the railway line. However, it was only after 15 years that the foundation stone of the railway link was laid today.
The Railway Ministry has allocated Rs 40 crore in the year 2010-11 out of the estimated project cost of Rs 4,295.30 crore for the new rail line connecting Rishikesh in the foothills of the Himalayas to Karanprayag in Chamoli district of the state. The proposed railway line will run parallel to the flow of Ganga. In the second phase, the proposed line will extend up to Mana (height 3,150 metres approx), beyond Badrinath near the China border.
The rail route will run along the Rishikesh-Karanparyag National Highway (NH-58), running parallel to the Ganga river. Thereafter, it crosses over to the south bank of the Ganga in order to connect Srinagar and other important towns of the Garhwal region.
The 125-km long rail line will have 12 stations, 81 tunnels, longest being 4.46 km. There will be more than 100 bridges on the Ganga, the Bhagirathi and the Alaknanada rivers. The highest bridge will be 65-metre high.
The rail starting from Rishikesh, 372 metres above the sea level, will reach Karanprayag, 1451 meters above the sea level. The train will take four hours to cover the distance of 125 km that normally takes seven to eight hours on road.
The project is likely to reach its completion by 2019.
Khanduri not invited to function
The BJP yesterday criticised the Congress leadership for failing to extend invitation to Chief Minister BC Khanduri for the foundation stone-laying ceremony of the Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line tomorrow so as to take entire credit for the project.
“It seems the Congress is eager to take sole credit for the project and has even left out the Chief Minister from the function which will be attended by the Congress chief, Sonia Gandhi,” said Deepti Rawat, BJP spokesperson, at a press conference here.
She said Khanduri, during his recent meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, had even raised the issue with him demanding that the Central Government bore the entire expenditure incurred on the construction of the railway track. He had also asked for the construction of all-weather roads and airstrips in view of the geographical nature of the state,” said Rawat.
Rawat said for the past 60 years the Congress Government had failed to pass any railway project for Uttarakhand. “People of the region have been raising the demand for the Rishikesh-Karanprayag-Chamoli and Tanakpur-Bageshwar-Jauljibi railway lines for several decades but none of these projects were passed. The then Minister of State for Railway Satpal Maharaj had even laid the foundation stone of some of the projects but these failed to take off,” said Rawat.
She also condemned Union Minister for Agriculture and Food Processing Harish Rawat for terming the 2010 Maha Kumbh mela as a government show, even when it was attended by a large number of people.
Former Member of Parliament from Garhwal Jagannath Sharma, clearing the air amid claims and counter claims over the issue Rishikesh-Karanprayag railway line project, said the demand for the project was put forth way back on March 28, 1979, in Parliament during a debate that was conducted on rail planning.
Showing a book containing the minutes of the discussion in Parliament, he said during the debate he had highlighted the need for such a railway line as it was necessary for a holistic development of the hilly region.
According to Sharma, he was the one who had suggested that a railway line connecting Rishikesh, Karanprayag, Ranikhet and Ramnagar should be built as it would go a long way in promoting tourism and catering to a wide section of the people residing in the far-flung regions of Garhwal and Kumaon.
He had also highlighted the importance of the proposed railway line in the hilly region of the state considering its closeness to China border, as it would speed up the movement of the defense forces in case of an emergency. Sharma said he was also the one who had advocated a separate policy and a special package for the hills of Garhwal in 1979.
Sharma, saddened by the politics going on over the issue of taking credit for the railway line project, said such vindictive politics was not at all good for the state and the politicians instead of calling names should devote their time on constructive activities.
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