In a bid to undo a Himalayan blunder, the government has scrapped the four-year-old project of building the world's highest bridge on Chenab (359 metres), a crucial part of the first railway line to Kashmir. The delay in cancelling the bridge, which was supposed to be built for Rs 512 crore, may cost it dearly as the government is already facing claims of Rs 300 crore from an international consortium involved in the project.

The abandonment of the bridge follows a belated discovery that it is unfeasible as the gorge in a high-relief mountainous region is not stable enough to bear the load of the mega steel arch.

In a letter dated September 4, the railway board announced "all existing contracts" with Konkan Railway Corporation Limited (KRCL) for a 34-km stretch of the railway link between Jammu and Kashmir, which includes the construction of the Chenab mega arch bridge, have been "short closed" (meaning, terminated before completion of work).

As a corollary, the board's decision puts a stop to the sub-contract signed by KRCL in 2004 with the international consortium, Ultra-Afcons-VSL, to design and build the Chenab bridge within 30 months. Though the stipulated period for the execution of the project lapsed last year, the consortium is yet to build even the foundation in the mountain slope on either side of the river as Northern Railways, in view of the treacherous geological conditions, could not clear any of its plans for the bridge.

In a tacit reference to the claims of Rs 300 crore submitted by the consortium for the manpower and machinery idling at the site, the board said, "A proper record of material, unfinished work abandoned at the site shall be kept for examining legitimate claims."

The decision to scrap the bridge was taken by the board's member (engineering) S K Vij as a sequel to an order passed by him on July 14 suspending all works on the existing alignment of the entire 125 km track between Katra and Banihal skirting the mountains at altitudes ranging from 800 to 1,700 metres.