Construction of the bridge was accelerated in the last one year under the direct supervision of the Central government.

World’s tallest railway bridge over the Chenab river in the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir will be ready by next year and it will connect the Kashmir Valley with the rest of India via train for the first time by 2022.

This bridge, with a central span of 467 metres, is being built at a height of 359 metres from the bed level.

A senior government official was quoted by the Times of India as saying that this is the tallest railway bridge in the world and the maximum designed wind speed for the bridge is 266 kmph.

He said the construction work of the bridge was accelerated in the last one year under the direct supervision of the top echelons of the central government.

There has been a greater push for the implementation of various projects under the Rs 80,068 crore Prime Minister’s Development Package (PMDP) which was announced on November 7, 2015, the official said.

The package is meant for strengthening socio-economic infrastructure and balanced regional development of Jammu and Kashmir. Moreover, the programme touches practically every sector and provides for massive investments in basic infrastructure.

The report said that following the reorganization of Jammu and Kashmir in August 2019, the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir was left with 54 projects under the PMDP with an outlay of Rs 58,627 crore.

Nine projects with an outlay of Rs 21,441 crore were transferred to the Union Territory of Ladakh.

The expenditure on various projects which was 27 per cent of the sanctioned cost in June 2018, has shot up to 54 per cent in July 2020, it said.

Read the complete report in Times of India