The last Field survey for much awaited rail link between Rishikesh and Karnprayag will be completed in coming two months and the Rail Vikas Nigam Limited will open tender for the same on 29 June 2012. Chief Minister Vijay Bahuguna has assured all possible support from the State Government. He said that the proposed railway project would bring in prosperity in the hill areas and generate employment opportunities for the people. Mr. Bahuguna issued direction to constitute Committee to be chaired by Chief Secretary and Secretary Transport, Secretary Revenue and Secretary Forest as its Members. The Committee would maintain coordination between the state government and Rail Vikas Nigam Limited.
Chief Minister Bahuguna chairing the meeting of Rishikesh-Karnprayag rail link at CM Residence on Tuesday described the project a dream project for the hill region of Uttarakhand and said that it would be completed very soon. He directed the officers concerned to make available the blue print of the project from officers of Railway Department and ask them about their expectations from the State Government.
The Director General of RVNL Satish Agnihotri said that the estimated budget of the 125.09 km long Rishikesh-Karnprayag Project was Rs. 4295.3 crore. He said that experienced and capable persons had been included in this mega project and modern technologies and methods would be used. He revealed that very high resolution stereo satellite imagery has been purchased from National Remote Sensing Centre, Hyderabad.
Mr. Agnihotri said that the this project would pass through Dehradun, Tehri, Pauri and Chamoli districts and main railway stations would be at Rishikesh, Karnprayag, Srinagar, Rudraprayag and Devprayag. There would be total 128 bridges including 45 large and 83 small one, while, total number of tunnels would be 81.
Mr. Agnihotri said that local talents would be given preference for which a campus interview would be conducted.
Also present in the meeting were MLA Nav Prabhat, Chief Secretary Alok Kumar Jain, Principal Secretary to Chief Minister DK Kotia, Secretary Transport Umakan Panwar, Secretary Forest Om Prakash, Director Rishikesh-Karnprayag Railway Project Vijay Anand, Director Personnel Geeta Mishra, Advisor SK Budlakoti, Executive Director JS Mehrok and Chief Project Manager Bhanu Prakash.