Tuesday, 01 AUGUST 2023 | PNS | DEHRADUN

Foundation stone of ambitious rail project unveiled by Congress leader Sonia Gandhi, says Godiyal

As the countdown for the 2024 parliamentary elections has started, the race for seeking credit for the major infrastructural  projects between the BJP and Congress has also intensified in the State.  Reacting sharply to a recent statement of chief minister Pushkar Singh Dhami in which he had said that that the Rishikesh- Karnprayag rail project was his dream project, the former Pradesh Congress Committee (PCC) president Ganesh Godiyal said that everyone knows that the foundation stone of the ambitious project to bring rail in the mountainous areas of the State was laid by the Congress leader Sonia Gandhi. “Till now I believed that the breeze of false claims is blowing in different parts of the country and Uttarakhand has been spared  but now it appears that disease has spread to the State as well,’’ he said.

 The Congress leader said that the foundation Stone Laying Ceremony of the project was held in Gauchar in Chamoli district in presence of Sonia Gandhi. He added that the UPA government had released a budget of Rs 40,000 crore for the mega project. Godiyal said that the BJP and the CM Dhami are taking false credit for the project which was conceptualised and started during the Congress rule. He demanded that the plaque of the foundation stone laying ceremony should be placed at the Yog Nagri Rishikesh railway station.

 The Rishikesh- Karnprayag rail line is an ambitious project in which a 125 km broad gauge railway line is being laid between Rishikesh and Karnprayag. The Rail Vikas Nigam Limited is developing the project. The project is expected to be completed in December 2024 after which the travel time between Rishikesh and Karnprayag will be reduced from about seven hours to two hours. It includes construction of 12 railway stations, 17 tunnels and 35 bridges.