Chenab River Link: Apart from engineering challenges, the world’s highest rail bridge also removes legal obstacles. Bharat News
New Delhi: Railways did not face a tough challenge of terrain and geology for the construction of the world’s highest cable-supported single-arc bridge over the Chenab River, it also fought a long legal battle, including a host of pills filed in the courts challenging the alignment, cost and faulty functioning.From 2008-09, cases were being registered in courts. Although work was going on on this Kashmir Rail-Link section, it became very dull for almost two years, Northern Railway officials remembered. Payal challenged the project “alignment, defective functioning and cost”, he said.It was only 2016 that the legal battle ended, accepting the railway stand with Delhi HC in April, and the Supreme Court, three months later, also the disposal of cases. Ruling paved the route for full scale construction with a Northern Railway Document, “Starting on the whole after July 2016”.The officials involved in the court processes recalled that with repeated filing of pilots affecting the work, the Center deployed the then Additional Solicitor General Maninder Singh to argue against the challenges in HC, when a committee established under E Sridharan in the example of the court expressed reservation about the element of the project.A former Northern Railway official said, “The project must have been completed soon.Officials said that the Railway Board ended the legal proceedings with submission of an affidavit on the directions of the High Court.To settle the case, HC said, “The affidavit states that after the proper consideration/ examination of the Railway Board, Sreedharan Committee report, safety, security and all other required/ important aspects are completely satisfied, which is in the form of the existing addition of the broad gauge railway line with the clide from between Katra and Banhal.,
