The Next Salvo To Free POK To Be Fired by December 2021
The first salvo to free Pakistan Occupied Kashmir was when in 1983 PM Indira Gandhi had announced in Udhampur that railway was going to be extended from Jammu to Udhampur. Political interference ensured that it took nearly two decades for the train services to start on the Udhampur Jammu line.
The second salvo for this war was fired when decision was taken extend the rail line to Katra. The next salvo was fired when a considered decision was taken to have a stand alone rail service in the Srinagar Valley and simultaneously initiate action to have it linked with the line at Katra. A rail bridge over Chenab and a rail tunnel thru Pir Panjal would be a major engineering feat which will take another two decades or so.
However when the decision was taken in 2003, the Pakistani think tanks, terrorist think tanks and their supporters in Kashmir ……the handful of separatists were shocked no end and there was total gloom. It was manifested in various newspaper editorials and other writings. They knew that now the game was up and henceforth it was just a matter of time.
Kashmir will be soon connected to the rest of India through railway network by December next year that is 2021 as the government has set a fresh deadline for completion of the world’s highest railway bridge.
The rail line bridge over chenb is expected to be 35 metres taller than the Eiffel Tower.
Konkan Railway has said it was most challenging project in the post-independent history of the Indian Railways.
“It is most challenging task in the 150-year-long history of the railways. The highest railway bridge in the world, connecting Kashmir with rest of country through rail line will be completed by December 2021,” Konkan Railway Chairman Sanjay Gupta told reporters on Wednesday night.
“The construction of the bridge is the most challenging part of the Kashmir rail link project undertaken post-independence and, once completed, it will be an engineering marvel,” Sanjay Gupta said.
The massive arch-shaped structure, being constructed in hostile terrain, have used over 5,462 tonnes of steel will be 359 metres above the river bed, he added.
Designed to withstand wind speeds of up to 260 km per hour, the 1.315-km-long “engineering marvel” will connect Bakkal (Katra) and Kauri (Srinagar).
The bridge forms a crucial link in the 111-km stretch between Katra and Banihal, which is part of the Udhampur- Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project.
Once completed, it will surpass the record of the Beipan river Shuibai railway bridge (275 m) in China.
The Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla rail link project is highly essential to provide an alternative and a reliable transportation system to Jammu and Kashmir to join Kashmir Valley to the Indian Railways network.
A rail survey to take the line from somewhere near Banihal to Sonamarg is also on its way. By the time Kanyakumari Baramula train starts running, the Indian railway will be asked to start preparing for the extension of the line to Muzaffrabad.
