Char Dham railway line: An uphill task in face of geological challenges

RVNL ready to build a curtailed link: that would mean the Indian Army will have to cover a longer distance to the China border by road.

Rail Vikas Nigam Limited (RVNL) has decided that it should go ahead with the proposed line to Badrinath in spite of the massive geological challenges. However, the implementing agency for the Rs 73,000 crore Char Dham rail project wants to end the line at Pipalkoti, about 35 km before the originally proposed culmination at Joshimath. 

Badrinath is the most crucial leg of the Char Dham project, which seeks to connect four holy Hindu shrines, the other three being Gangotri, Yamunotri and Kedarnath. In addition to aiding pilgrims’ progress, the Badrinath line is meant to provide faster access to the China