Three states from NE India to get rail connectivity by 2023

NEW DELHI | AUG 29, 2020:

In a bid to provide connectivity, the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR), has started laying tracks to connect the capital cities of Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland which is to be completed by March 2023, top railway officials said.

"The work to lay the broad gauge railway line has been progressing well in Manipur, Mizoram and Nagaland. There are some land-related and other environmental problems in Sikkim and Meghalaya, causing the delay in extending the railway networks in the two hilly states," NFR's General Manager Sanjive Roy said.

NFR's Chief Public Relations Officer (CPRO) Subhanan Chanda said the NFR has been able to make headway in most of the North-Eastern states with rail connectivity, Sikkim was missing out of the Indian railway map.

"Work for providing rail connectivity was sanctioned for Sikkim way back in 2008-09. The work could not make much headway due to various environmental-related issues as the proposed railway line would pass through the Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary. It is a national project and is very important for the overall development of the state of Sikkim. Once completed it would boost connectivity of the land-locked state which shares its border with three neighbouring countries China, Nepal and Bhutan apart from being strategically important," Chanda said.

The NFR engineers said the landscape, soil conditions and other natural challenges forced the railways to invest more money and to confront diverse challenges in the north-eastern region.