Bairabi

The North-eastern region has a very special place in all developmental agenda of the Government of India. Indian Railways is significantly contributing towards transformation of the North-eastern states by executing several new railway line projects. Constructing new railway lines to connect all the state capitals of north-eastern region is going o­n under capital connectivity projects. The Bairabi - Sairang New Line Railway Project to connect the North-eastern state of Mizoram to the rest of the country is o­ne such project which is likely to be completed soon. This project o­nce completed will mark the dawn of a new era in terms of communication and commerce, in the North-eastern region of the country especially in Mizoram. The Bairabi – Sairang project aims to create an additional 51.38 km of railway track in Northeast India.

N. F. Railway has completed the work of construction of the tallest pier of the project i.e Pier P - 4 of bridge no. 196 in the approach of Sairang station. Height of this pier is 104 meter which is 42 meter taller than the Qutub Minar. This is a hollow pier of 12 meter external diameter with wall thickness varying from 75 centimeters to 50 centimeters. Due to topographical constraint, this pier is located within the centre of a river stream. Construction of the foundation of this pier within the running stream was a big challenge which has been accomplished by diverting the stream and deploying the extra piling machines. The pier is designed in such a unique way that the pile cap is provided with four openings of 4.5 meter x 8.5 meter to allow the water to pass through it. With the completion of this pier, o­ne of the most critical parts of the project has been accomplished.

Though there are many challenges in execution of this project like very less working season due to very heavy and prolonged monsoons, very tough and hilly terrain through deep forests, poor accessibility, non-availability of construction materials and skilled labor in Mizoram etc., Northeast Frontier Railway is making all efforts for fulfilling its commitment of earliest commissioning of the project. Work at all project sites are going o­n even at night shift.

With its completion, tourism and socio-economic development of the state and the region will get a much needed boost. o­nce operational, the project will prove to be important for connecting Mizoram with the rail network. People of the region will get long distance access across the country and uninterrupted supply of essential goods at low costs can be done to Mizoram to cater to the needs of the people.    

Shri Ashwini Vaishnaw, Hon’ble Minister of Railways o­n 3^rd February, 2023 held an interaction with media persons of Northeast virtually from New Delhi in connection with the Railway Budget 2023-24. Shri Anshul Gupta, General Manager of N. F. Railway and senior railway officials of Headquarters were also present. Similar programme was also held in all the divisions of N. F. Railway where Divisional Railway Managers were participated. Media persons from different places joined virtually. While addressing the media persons, the Minister of Railways informed that a capital outlay of Rs. 2.40 lakh crore has been provided for the Railways. This year allocation is the highest ever outlay which is about 9 times outlay made in 2013-14 and 51% more than the last year.

The Minister of Railways said that 59 stations in Northeast to be developed with world class amenities/facilities. Keeping in view the heritage concept of ‘Virasat Bhi, Vikas Bhi’, he informed that 310 old train coaches will be converted to LHB coaches for better riding experience and comfortable journey for the passengers. During last year, 445 KM of railway tracks have been electrified in Assam. 15 station each in all divisions of NFR to be developed under Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.

During the interaction, the Minister informed that adequate fund has been allotted for overall development of railway infrastructure in all North Eastern states. For the first time, an amount of Rs. 1.20 lakh crore has been earmarked for connecting the hilly and border areas.

Moreover, the Gross Budget Allocation for N. F. Railway for the FY 2023-24 is Rs. 10,988.80crore. It is 13.75% more than previous year’s allotment (Rs 9,660.14 Crs). The allocation for North-eastern states is Rs. 10,269 crore which is about Rs. 300 crore higher than the last year.This year budget allocation shows unprecedented growth in several segments like new line and doubling projects, track renewal works, traffic facilities, road safety works, bridge works, signalling, workshop modernisation and customer amenities etc. Around Rs. 6591 crore has been allocated for new lines while it is Rs. 1364 crore for doubling of railway tracks. The Minister of Railways also informed that total railway infrastructure projects of Rs. 75,795 crore are going o­n in entire North-eastern region.

Adequate allocation has been made for early execution of all the o­ngoing works. Around Rs. 1100 crore has been allocated for Dimapur - Kohima new line projects while Rs. 800 crore is earmarked for execution of the Jiribam - Imphal new line projects. Other capital connectivity projects in the North-eastern states such as Sivok - Rangpo new line projects in Sikkim gets Rs. 2350 crore while Rs. 915 crore has been allocated for Bairabi – Sairang new line projects in Mizoram. Among other new line projects, Rs. 200 crore for Agartala – Akhaura international connectivity project between India and Bangladesh and around Rs. 700 crore is allocated for Araria – Galgalia project.

Rs. 600 crore for New Bongaigaon – Rangiya – Kamakhya and Rs. 500 crore for New Bongaigaon- Goalpara – Kamakhya have been allocated for speedy execution of the o­ngoing track doubling works. Moreover, Rs. 115 crore has been allocated for the doubling works between Katihar – Kumedpur and Katihar – Mukuria sections to further improve train connectivity to and from Northeast.

It is to be mentioned here that Agthori station near Guwahati will be redeveloped with world class facilities at a cost of Rs. 517 crore.