Guwahati (Assam) [India], February 11 (ANI): The Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) on Tuesday said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision towards the Northeast has changed the railway connectivity, infrastructure scenario in the region, adding that the Railway Ministry has planned to extend the railway connectivity in the region towards the international border also.
In an exclusive interview with ANI, Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railway said that there has been an extensive focus on improving the infrastructure in the in the North-eastern region of the country.
Sharma stated that a significant numbers of railway infrastructure and connectivity projects worth Rs 1 lakh crore is underway and it is expected that in next 4-5 the whole scenario will be changed.
“As of now projects with a total worth of almost Rs 1 lakh crore are going on in the entire Northeast Frontier Railway area. In this year’s budget an amount of about Rs 10,400 crore has been sanctioned for the North Eastern region. This is a huge amount which is much higher than which is used to be before 2014 and which shows that the government is really focused on improvement of infrastructure of the North Eastern region,” Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said.
The official hightlighted ongoing railway development projects in Assam, specifically focusing on capacity augmentation through doubling of tracks and electrification.
He said that electrification work is also progressing rapidly in Assam, with trials already completed up to Dibrugarh and Barak Valley. The entire electrification project in Assam is expected to be completed by the end of this year.
“We are focusing mainly on capacity augmentation so doubling is mainly work that is going on. The doubling has been completed upto Lumding except for the Saraighat bridge, because doubling of Saraighat bridge would be required with an additional bridge. Work for the additional Saraighat bridge has already been sanctioned and it is expected to start by March and we are expecting that in the next 4-5 years it will be completed. The second Saraighat bridge will be built with a double line and it will be a road cum rail bridge and there will be three lanes of road. Doubling works beyond Lumding have also sanctioned. Lumding-Furkating double line project has already been sanctioned. Survey is going on for doubling upto Dibrugarh that is Furkating to Dibrugarh. In Assam the electrification work is going on very fast. This year we are going to complete and we have already done trials upto Dibrugarh, also in Barak Valley. The electrification works in entire Assam will be completed by this year,” the CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railway said.
Sharma asserted that a large number of projects are being run across the whole north-eastern region. He said that Aizawl, the capital city of Mizoram is likely to get the railway connectivity by this year.
Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said, “We are targeting by July 2025. In future also we are planning to extend beyond Aizawl and to extend it upto Hbichhuah and survey work is going on. In Nagaland, the Shokhuvi railway station is the second railway station in Nagaland which is come up more than 100 years after Dimapur and this is a major achievement. We are expecting to open up the section upto Molvom in this year and in future upto Kohima. In Manipur there is a 110 km project to Imphal and half of the project has completed. We have already run goods train and passenger train upto Khongsang. We are expecting to open up upto Imphal in next 3 years. Similarly, in Arunachal Pradesh, some important projects are in different stages of progress. Murkongselek-Pasighat project is going on and we are expecting that by this year we would be able to complete the project. Survey is going on for some other projects like Pasighat to Tezu and line upto Tawang, Aalo. In Sikkim also the Sevoke-Rangpo project is going on and expect to complete by 2027. Across the North East a large number of projects are going on.”
“Also in future there are some proposed projects will come up. Surveys are going on from Lanka to Moinarband, this is the alternate line for the hill section. We expect that the years to come there will be a major change in the connectivity scenario in North East,” he added.
The CPRO of Northeast Frontier Railway further said that there are a number of international projects like Kokrajhar-Gelephu (Bhutan).
“Surveys are going on for the connectivity in Nepal also. Apart from that, there are a number of connectivity projects of Bangladesh which is presently on hold due to current political situation there. May be in future these projects can also be taken up. Connectivity towards Indo-China border in Arunachal Pradesh, surveys are going on and years to come these projects will definitely in progress,” Kapinjal Kishore Sharma said.
He also said that, before 2014, there was a sufficient fund was allocated to the North Eastern region although there were a number of projects sanctioned in 2007, 2008, but a very less funds were given.
“Unless funds progress can’t take place and after 2014 there was a huge change and a lot of funds have given to the North East. We have seen more than five times have gone up and that is having a real impact. We are expecting that in next 4 years major change will happen and this will help the people of North East region immensely, all the farmers, producers from this region can sell their products across India even in foreign markets. In future we will achieve the connectivity to ports like Sittwe, Chittagong once the political scenario changes,” said. (ANI)
Disclaimer: This story is auto-generated from a syndicated feed of ANI; only the image & headline may have been reworked by News Services Division of World News Network Inc Ltd and Palghar News and Pune News and World News
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