| Jammu-Udhampur Rail track awaits major tragedy | | It's safe, maintain railway authorities | | Early Times Report
Jammu, Sept 9 : A Major mishap at any time cannot be ruled out at Tunnel-16 on 53 kilometers Jammu-Udhampur Rail Link near Manwal, as the railway traffic is on despite damage to track and tunnel due to heavy rains.
Tunnel -16 on Jammu-Udhampur track has been damaged three times in the month of August. It was earlier damaged with the landslide due to heavy rain on August 5, in which the engine of the Malwa Express was stuck in the tunnel for more than two days, after that on August 13 and August 16 the landslides again disrupted the rail link on the same tunnel.
The Railway is at present running all the train on the Jammu-Udhampur track despite the shooting boulders inside the tunnel. However, the train runs at much slower speed in the damaged portion -- 20 km per hour on the patch near Tunnel-16. The passengers fear accident in waiting on the Jammu Udhampur track.
Sham lal, a frequent traveler said, "Passing through Manwal tunnel is very risky, the stone shooting is still on near the tunnel."
"Most of the frequent travelers now prefer to travel via bus, only few people are travelling in DMUs and other trains due to the risky track,' he added. There are seven train for Udhampur from Jammu, Malwa Express, Jammu Mail, Uttar Sampark Kranti, Summer Special and three DMU's.G M Bhat, Geological Expert said, "The stones are loose in that area, so the landslide is common on the track. It is mandatory to closely monitor all this. Otherwise, running trains on such track is dangerous."
The Railway authorities say it is safe to run the train on this track. R N Meena, Divisional Traffic Manager said, "It is 100 percent safe to travel on this track, we do not run the train on the track without getting clearance from construction agency."
"Passengers can travel without any hesitation on this track," he added.
53km long Jammu-Udhampur rail link was inaugurated on April 13, 2005 by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. This rail link has 20 major tunnels and 158 bridges. Its longest tunnel was 2.5 km and its highest bridge was 77 m the highest railway bridge in India.
This line is an important link for Jammu-Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (JUSBRL) Project to connect Kashmir valley with rest of the country. Construction of line was biggest project undertaken by the Indian Railways in the mountainous terrain which runs to some of the lofty mountain ranges of Pir Panjal and Himalayas. |
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