PIONEER NEWS SERVICE | Dehradun
The Union Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw visited the Jansu Tunnel being built between Devprayag and Jansu which had a breakthrough on Wednesday. The chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami, Garhwal MP Anil Baluni and the State cabinet minister Dhan Singh Rawat accompanied the Union Minister. It is a part of the 125 km- long Rishikesh-Karnprayag broad gauge rail project. This rail project being built inside a 105 km tunnel has a total of 16 tunnels from Rishikesh to Karnaprayag. These 14.57 km- long tunnels have been constructed with the help of state-of-the-art tunnel boring machines (TBM) while the remaining tunnels of the project are being constructed using traditional drill and blast technology. In view of the complex geological conditions of the area, special TBM machines had been ordered from Germany to dig the tunnels.
Hailing the tunnel construction work, Vaishnav said that this project is a major achievement for Uttarakhand, which would strengthen rail connectivity in the mountainous areas. “The tunnel construction with modern technology will set an example for future projects,” he added. He further said that the day was doubly historic. “On this day in 1853, the first train in India ran between Bori Bunder and Thane and today India’s longest transportation tunnel has also had a breakthrough,” he said.
CM Dhami said that the dream of bringing rail to the mountains dreamt by the Prime Minister Narendra Modi was now coming true. “This tunnel will be fully ready in the coming few months,” he said while congratulating the engineers, technical experts and workers engaged in the tunnel construction for this breakthrough.
