Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh will soon be
included in the railway map of the country with the North East
Frontier Railway (NEFR) planning to flag off the first train
service from Naharlagun on December 12 next.
NEFR Deputy Chief Engineer S. Kanojia gave this
assurance to Governor J J Singh after an aerial visit of the
ongoing project last evening, official sources said.
"Sir, this is my word...that the train would be
flagged off on the scheduled date," Kanojia assured the former
Army chief during the trip, the sources said.
Kanojia informed that all train services were
suspended along the 450-km Rangia-Murkongselek line in Assam
for its conversion from meter to broad gauge under the
Centre’s massive expansion programme and the work for the mega
block began simultaneously all along the route in September
last year.
He said while the Rangia-Rangapara portion would be
completed by March next, the Rangapara-North Lakhimpur portion
would be over by December 12 and North Lakhimpur-Murkongselek
by March 2013.
About 80 per cent of the 20-Km Harmuti-Naharlagun
route that also comprises 50 culverts and bridges have been
completed with railway tracks laid at many portions.
"We would meet the deadline," he said.
Planning Secretary and Secretary to Governor Ankur
Garg, PHE&WS Secretary Tomi Ete, Special Transport and Tourism
secretary Sonam Chombey also accompanied the Governor in the
50-minute aerial tour to assess progress of various projects,
including the ambitious state Civil Secretariat, the Rs 115.25
crore Itanagar water supply scheme, 105-MW Pare Hydro-Electric
Project (PHEP) and the Trans-Arunachal Highway.
After the aerial inspection of the water source,
catchement area and pipeline work, Ete assured the Governor
that the IWWS, being built under gravitational design to tap
water of Mehi stream, a tributary of Poma River whose water
treatment plant (WTP) is located 16.3 km away.
The water from WTP would flow for 15.19 km to the
20-lakh capacity main storage tank at Mowb-II to cater to the
needs of Itanagar population through 10 zonal tanks at
different locations. It would be completed by May next, he
informed.
PTI
