Centre to complete strategically crucial Sivok-Rongpo railway project on war footing New Jalpaiguri : The Government of India is all set to complete the strategically important Sivok-Rongpo new broad gauge rail line project by December next year. Construction work for the 44.96 km long railway project, which will put Sikkim on India's railway map, is in full swing. The entire project starting from Sivok in West Bengal will cross three major places including Riang, Tista Bazar and Melli before reaching Rongpo in Sikkim.
The foundation stone of the project was laid on October 30, 2009. The Government of India is giving much more emphasis to this project following the fact that apart from bringing Sikkim on the Railway map, this route will also be utilised for defence purposes. "We have three neighbouring countries including China surrounding Sikkim. Completion of this project will not only boost the tourism sector of Sikkim, it will also improve the connectivity with Sikkim," said Darjeeling MP Raju Bist, speaking to ETV Bharat.
Railway Ministry awarded the project to IRCON on May 7, 2010. Although the original date for the completion of the project was May 6, 2014, various reasons have further extended the completion timeline of the much-needed project. The new deadline is December 2024. The original cost of the project was Rs 4,084.69 crore which has been escalated to Rs 12,472.07 crore.
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A senior railway official told this correspondent that the project works were delayed due to a delay in forest land diversion falling in forest land in West Bengal for the project work. The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) applied for forest land diversion in July 2010. However, working permission and forest land diversion was given by the government of West Bengal in June 2019.
Of the total 44.96 km railway project, 3.51 km falls in Sikkim and 41.45 km falls in West Bengal. The total length of 14 tunnels in this route is 38.62 km. There are 22 bridges in this entire route with a total length of 2.24 kms.
"The permissible speed limit of the train through this railway line will be 100 kmph. And the longevity of the tunnels is 110 years," said Mohinder Singh, IRCON project manager while giving details to ETV Bharat in an exclusive interview. He said that to tackle different hurdles, the project has been utilising a state-of-the-art New Austrian Tunnelling Machine.
"With such advanced technology and a combination of Indian and foreign expertise, we are completing the tunnels and other projects," informed Singh. The Sivok-Rongpo railway project will also give a boost to India's Act East Policy, as the central government has initiated actions to bring inclusive growth in the Northeast and connect the entire region with South East Asia. The Act East Policy is also a counterweight to the strategic influence of neighbouring China.
