DHUBRI

Giving a major boost to development of the North-Eastern Region, Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, Govt. of India, today o­n 19^th September, 2022 inaugurated a Riverfront Passenger Jetty near the Bogibeel Rail cum Road Bridge, constructed by Railways in Dibrugarh. The inauguration programme was attended by Shri Rameswar Teli, Hon’ble Minister of State of Labour & Employment, Govt. of India. The General Manager of N. F. Railway Shri Anshul Gupta, Divisional Railway Manager of Tinsukia division Shri Bijaya Kumar Mishra, senior railway officials and officials from Ministry of Ports, Shipping and Waterways were also present at the occasion.

While inaugurating the Riverfront Jetty at Bogibeel, Hon’ble Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal requested railways for similar facilities at Pandu, Jogighopa and Dhubri while praising the successful development of the passenger jetty by N. F. Railway. He thanked the General Manager, N. F. Railway and Divisional Railway Manager, Tinsukia for successful commissioning of the passenger jetty.

The General Manager of N. F. Railway, o­n the occasion announced the plan for development of New Tinsukia and Dibrugarh Railway stations as per world class standard. Dhamalgaon station is also planned to be developed for enhancing tourism at Bogibeel, the General Manager said. He also promised all-round socio-economic development of the region. Bogibeel will be developed as a Gati Shakti unit for handling freight and passenger traffic in a multimodal concept, he added.

The project to develop river site near the Bogibeel Bridge is a major step towards integrated connectivity between railways and waterways under mission ‘Gati Shakti’ launched by the Hon’ble Prime Minister. Promotion of local tourism & culture and mobility of business activities in and around Bogibeel area will also get an impetus. The project will also lead to development of multimodal transport hub for the North-eastern region and will boost tourism prospects in the upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh areas. This will facilitate transportation of goods and reduce travel time and cost for movement of people.

The work for development of the riverfront at Bogibeel was taken up by the N. F. Railway as a result of a meeting held in October last year with the Union Minister Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI), Inland Water Transport, Govt. of Assam. The entire project is being implemented in downstream of the Bogibeel Bridge site o­n the South bank.

The project will lead cargo movement facilitating waterways transportation of materials further transportation through railways to the destinations. The Riverfront facility developed also has immense potential to evolve as a Tourist Hub. Exciting water sports like boating, cruise available at the jetty will provide bunch of fascination to tourists and general public. Amenities like restaurant, toilet, parking etc. would also benefit to public at large.

Indian Railway is striving hard to achieve the target of zero carbon emission by 2030. In an endeavour to minimize dependence o­n fossil fuels, the Northeast Frontier Railway is taking steps to generate green energy more and more by installing solar power plants across the zone. In a step forward to achieve the target of zero carbon emission, Roof-Top Solar power plants have been commissioned throughout the Northeast Frontier Railway generating 4358.233 Kilo Watt Peak (kwp) till March, 2022. This will, in turn, save 44.54 lakh units that amounts to approximately Rs 3.56 crore annually in energy bills.

N. F. Railway step towards its ‘Go-Green’ mission successfully commissioned 585 kwp of solar roof top systems in various stations and other service buildings during the last financial year. Out of 585 kwp, 195 kwp capacity is being commissioned in Lumding station, 100 kwp in Dimapur station and 120 kwp in Kamakhya Coaching Depot under Lumding division. Similarly, 100 kwp capacity is being commissioned in Rangiya station and 10 kwp each in Viswanath Chariali station and Kendriya Vidyalaya/Rangiya under Rangiya division. Further in Alipurduar division, 20 kwp capacity is being commissioned in Dalgaon station and 10 kwp each in Kalchini station, Dhubri station and Salakati station.

In the current financial year, to meet the energy requirements, NFR is all set to commission 1500 kwp capacity of solar roof top systems in its jurisdiction. These include 100 kwp in Silchar station, 200 kwp each in Guwahati station and Kamakhya station under Lumding divison. Apart from all this, 1000 kwp is planned to be commissioned in New Bongaigaon Workshop which is a major workshop under NFR.

During the time when energy prices have taken a sharp hit due to the o­ngoing Ukraine-Russia conflict, NFR is committed to utilize solar energy for meeting its energy requirements which will help in meeting power needs of all the stations and save precious expenditure for the Railways and the country apart from being environment friendly.