Railway Board sanctions survey for new rail lines to avoid Lumding-Silchar hill section

Assam's Barak Valley and Tripura have remained cut off from the railway connectivity since last month after a severe landslide and flood had devastated the rail network in the hill section. The Lumding-Silchar hill section of the NFR is the lifeline for people in Assam's Barak Valley and other northeastern states like Tripura and Mizoram.

Guwahati:Considering the frequent landslides in the Lumding-Silchar hill section under the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), the Railway Board has approved a survey for setting up an alternate railway line between the Silchar-Chandranathpur-Lanka stretch to ensure all-weather railway connectivity to these regions.

Assam's Barak Valley and Tripura have remained cut off from the railway connectivity since last month after a severe landslide and flood had devastated the rail network in the hill section. The Lumding-Silchar hill section of the NFR is the lifeline for people in Assam's Barak Valley and other northeastern states like Tripura and Mizoram.

Although the NFR has started the repairing works on a war footing to ensure train movement in the Lumding Silchar hill section, railway movement is unlikely to take place till June 30 as continuous rainfall has hampered the railway line restoration works in the region. The Railway ministry has sanctioned Rs. 180 crores for restoration works.

"The Railway Board have sanctioned an amount of Rs. 43.23 crore for carrying out the location survey for the new railway lines between Silchar-Chandranathpur-Lanka stretch," said a senior NFR official adding that the proposed railway line could ensure all weather connectivity to Barak Valley and other northeastern states through the rail network. The proposed railway line in the stretch would cover a distance of 208 km.

It may be mentioned here that the train movement in the Lumding-Silchar stretch has remained snapped since a severe landslide and flood hit the region on May 14. The landslide has washed away several bridges, railway tracks, and tunnels in several locations in the Lumding Silchar hill section.