DHUBRI

Maligaon, 14^th April, 2023:

On this auspicious day of Bohag Bihu, Hon’ble Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi dedicated 249 kms of Double line, 86 km of New Line and 512 kms of Electrified railway track of Assam to the Nation during a programme held at Guwahati o­n 14^th April, 2023. Shri Gulab Chand Kataria, Hon’ble Governor of Assam; Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Hon’ble Chief Minister of Assam; Shri Sarbananda Sonowal, Hon’ble Union Minister of Ports, Shipping & Waterways and Ayush; Shri Rameswar Teli, Hon’ble Union Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Gas and Labour & Employment and Shri Bimal Borah, Hon’ble Minister, Govt. of Assam were also present o­n the occasion.

Speaking o­n the occasion Hon’ble Prime Minister mentioned that there was always the issue of lack of physical connectivity in the Northeast, which is being addressed by the present government by laying emphasis o­n road, rail and air connectivity. During last 9 years broad gauge trains reached Manipur, Mizoram, Meghalaya, Arunachal Pradesh and Tripura. New rail lines are being laid in the Northeast three times faster than before, and the doubling of rail lines taking place at almost 10 times faster than earlier. The Prime Minister highlighted that 5 railway projects that have been inaugurated today worth more than 6,000 crore rupees will accelerate the development of a large part of the region including Assam. The Prime Minister further added that rail has reached a large part of Assam for the first time and the doubling of rail lines will provide easy connectivity to Assam as well as Manipur, Mizoram, Tripura and Nagaland. He also noted that traveling to places of faith and tourism will now become easy.

These newly constructed lines will change the rail transportation scenario o­n this area. More and more trains including trains carrying essential commodities will be able to reach the Northeastern states in a much lesser time from production centers spreading all over the country. The Digaru to Lumding 147 km long double line section was constructed at a cost of Rs. 2,538 crs. Construction of 17 Major Bridges, 106 Minor Bridges and 07 Road Over Bridges are involved. This section passes through the Kamrup (Metro), Marigaon and Nagaon districts of Assam. It helped in reducing the operational constraints of the route which is responsible for all train movements towards states like Nagaland, Mizoram, Manipur, Tripura apart from South and Upper Assam areas.

The New Bongaigaon – Dhupdhara 102 km long section was constructed as part of the o­ngoing New Bongaigaon – Goalpara-Kamakhya 176 km long doubling project. Construction of 35 Major Bridges, 228 Minor Bridges and 24 Road Under Bridges are involved in this section. The project cost was Rs. 1,962 crs. Passing through the Bongaigaon and Goalpara districts of Assam, it will be beneficial for operating trains towards NE region.

Gauripur – Abhayapuri 86 km new line section is part of the New Mainaguri (in West Bengal) to Jogighopa (in Assam) 279 km long new Railway line project. It passes through 5 stations namely Alamganj, Bagribari, Bilasipara, Chapar and Bechimari. With the completion of this section, population of a huge area falling under the Dhubri and Bongaigaon districts of Assam got the benefit of Railway service for the very first time. Constructed at a cost of Rs. 1,267 cr, it involves construction of 30 Major Bridges, 305 Minor Bridges, 03 tunnels, 133 Road Under Bridges and 02 Road Over Bridges.

As part of the Indian Railways ambitious plan to become the largest “GREEN RAILWAYS” in the world, it plans to become a zero carbon emission network by 2030. Newly electrified 381 km Raninagar Jalpaiguri – Guwahati and 131 km Chaparmukh – Senchoa & Senchoa – Mairabari sections will lead to seamless connectivity of trains to and from Northeast to various metro cities like New Delhi, Chennai, Mumbai, Kolkata, Ahmedabad etc. Running of heavy hauled goods train towards Northeast became possible. Train operation cost also reduced significantly due to savings o­n fossil fuel consumption.

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.