South Central Railway (SCR) has announced that a new 31-km. railway line between Manoharabad-Gajwel, constructed as a part of 151-km. Manoharabad-Kottapalli project, has been completed and commissioned in all aspects on Friday.
The project is prestigious for Telangana and passes through hinterland areas of five districts connecting Gajwel, Siddipet, Sircilla and Vemulawada. Once the entire project is completed, it will provide direct and shortest rail connectivity to Karimnagar from Hyderabad, senior officials said.
The project was sanctioned in 2016 at an estimated cost of ₹1,160 crore with Prime Minister Narendra Modi laying the foundation stone. It is being executed in five phases with Manoharabad (Medak)- Gajwel (Siddipet) is the first phase completed having Nacharam and Elkal Begumpet stations. About l,500 acres was acquired in a short span of one year and work was started in 2018 and completed within two years. The work includes rehabilitation of Appayapally villagers and diversions across National Highway No. 44 which is the longest north-south busy highway connecting Kashmir and Kanyakumari.
ADVERTISEMENT
Construction was done in a difficult terrain of handling four major hillocks. It involved handling 22 lakh cubic meters of earth work in embankment and 12 lakh cubic meters of earth work in cutting, including four lakh cubic meters of rock cutting. Total of 61 bridges were constructed, including four major bridges and 45 minor bridges. “We have avoided surface level crossings by providing for several road under bridges and road over bridges. Pre-stressed concrete girders were used for the the bridges construction to speed up work,” said Chief PRO Ch. Rakesh. Incidentally, the railway line passes over the underground irrigation canal system of Kaleswaram project.
Manoharabad junction station was also commissioned in advance to ease the rail panels movement in the section and about one lakh cubic metres of ballast was collected in advance for linking the track. General Manager Gajanan Mallya complimented chief administrative officeer Amit Goel and Hyderabad division railway manager N. Sita Ram Prasad for their role in completing phase one and observed that besides providing better transportation towards the twin cities, it will aid in employment generation.
ADVERTISEMENT