Centre not serious on Jogindernagar-Leh rail link project:HP

Himachal Pradesh chief minister Prem Kumar Dhumal today accused the Centre of not taking seriously the strategically important Jogindernagar-Leh rail link project.

"China had already linked Lhasa with rail line and according to reports six more rail links were proposed in the border areas, but on our side no progress has been made to extend the Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail line to Leh," Dhumal told reporters here.
      
He said the state government's efforts to build an all weather, cheap and accessible road up to Leh were also going no where as not a single penny had been spent by the Centre on this project since foundation stone of the Rohtang tunnel was laid by then Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee in 2002.
    
 He further alleged that the proposal for converting Pathankot-Jogindernagar rail line to broad gauge and extending it up to Leh had been hanging since long.
     
 The railway board had undertaken the project survey on national importance from the defence point of view but no progress had been made to convert it into reality, he added.