India to complete construction of highest railway bridge in Jammu and Kashmir by August 2022

Jammu and Kashmir's Reasi district will soon come up with the world's highest railway bridge which will be 35 metres taller than Eiffel Tower. The bridge, which is being built over the Chenab river is likely to be completed by August 2022.

The bridge will connect Kashmir valley with Katra in Jammu and the rest of the country. It will also reduce the journey time by 5-6 hours from Katra to Srinagar.

Deputy Chief Engineer RR Malik, who is also the product manager said, "We have a deadline of 2022". When asked about how difficult the task is given the geography he said, "It is not an easy job, building in such terrain."

He added, "It will generate local employment. Hectic activity will happen. It will also boost the local economy. People of my district are waiting for it to be finished." 

Reasi district of J&K, famous for Vaishno Devi shrine, is expected to get a major uptick in tourism with the highest railway bridge project.

The total length of the rail bridge is 1.3 km and it can withstand an earthquake measuring more than 7 on the Richter scale. 

The project is being developed by Konkan Railway Corporation Limited and is a part of the Udhampur-Srinagar-Baramulla Rail Link (USBRL) project and he Udhmapur-Katra (25 Km) section, Banihal-Quazigund (18 Km) section and Quazigund-Baramulla (118Km) section have already been commissioned.