NEW DELHI: With D V Sadananda Gowda taking charge as Railway Minister, the focus is back on the 11 National Projects of strategic importance for expanding railways footprint in northeast states to counter China’s infrastructure development across the border. A specialised group has been formed to speed up projects worth `50,000 crores. These projects have been stuck for years for security issues like threat by militants and extortions, green clearances and funds crunch.
The railway ministry is working in tandem with the Ministry of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) headed by former army chief Gen (Retd) V K Singh to get the projects completed. The DoNER ministry has recently written a letter to the railways for the completion of these projects. While majority of these projects — 10 in the Northeast and one in Jammu and Kashmir were sanctioned during 2006-2012, some have been pending since the 1990s.
The projects were given the status of National Projects keeping in mind their strategic importance. On completion, the projects will provide rail connectivity to all the states in the Northeast and in Jammu and Kashmir. Besides, they are important for the transfer of security forces and arms and ammunitions in case of emergency on Indo-China and Indo-Pakistan borders.
Two of the projects delayed in Assam and Manipur were held up owing to “increased extortion” and “threat activities of militants” and five are stuck for the want of forest clearance for transfer of forest land for non-forest purpose. Fund is another major issue as the railways entirely dependent on Planning Commission and Ministry of Finance for additional resources. The Ministry of Railways have now sent the projects to the Project Monitoring Group (PMG) in the Cabinet Secretariat for removing hurdles related to green clearances.
“These projects have been put on priority by the new government and are being handled on case to case basis,” said a senior railway official.
The Bogibeel Bridge with linking rail line in Assam sanctioned in 1997-98 at `4996 crore and Lumding-Silchar rail line in Assam sanctioned in 1996-97 at `5185 crore is yet to be completed. The 51.83 km long Bhairabi-Sairang rail in Mizoram was sanctioned in 2008-09 at a cost of `2393.48 crore but the progress has been almost null as forest clearance is awaited. The Sivok-Rangpo rail line in Sikkim was sanctioned in 2008-09.