Encroachment hurdle to devp of Dimapur Stn: NFR
To meet the growing number of passengers from Dimapur railway station, the second highest revenue earner of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), recently appointed GM(NFR) Chetan Kumar Srivastava informed that there are plans to introduce a Diesel-Electric Multiple Unit (DEMU) train service between Dimapur and Guwahati railway stations, pending approval from the Railway Board.
Disclosing this to Nagaland Post , Srivastava said while DEMU initiative was viable, however launching other trains from the Dimapur station would be difficult considering the station’s lack of maintenance infrastructure.
DEMU is a self-powered train that does not rely on an external locomotive as its engines are integrated into one or more carriages.
However, he said it was proposed to have DEMU services at Lumding station, which had a dedicated maintenance facility. He also acknowledged the need for additional train services from Dimapur railway station in order to meet the growing volume of passengers.
Replying to a query on why there are no trains originating and terminating at Dimapur, Srivastava clarified that NFR had no issue in providing the services, but it was subject to availability of maintenance space.
He pointed out that land encroachment in Dimapur posed an immense challenge in acquiring the necessary space for setting up maintenance infrastructure.
On shifting of Nagaland Express and BG Express to other stations in Assam, he explained that these were not akin to hijacking, but were done in line with operational needs.
While acknowledging the inconveniences faced by travellers due to severe shortage of tickets for Dimapur railway station, he assured that this will be addressed upon his return to the NFR office at Maligaon soon.
Responding to a question about potential upgrade or re-establishment of train station at Tuli, he said there were no such proposal currently in this regard.
Later, addressing a section of the media here, Srivastava affirmed that NFR was fully attuned to the needs and demands of the Dimapur railway station. Srivastava reiterated the proposal for development of Dimapur railway station into world class for which an amount of Rs. 280 crore was allocated by the Centre. Dimapur is among 56 other stations in the north east included in the project which is a vision of prime minster Narendra Modi.
On the project to upgrade Dimapur railway station into a world class station, he informed that the first phase would focus on interior upgrades, while the second phase would encompass development of surrounding areas, including parking facilities.
However, Srivastava said the NFR faces hurdles in project execution, due to railway land encroachment at Dimapur.
The GM (NFR) said that fund for the project have been sanctioned, but the project encountered hurdles due to encroachments.
On the delay in evicting encroachers despite order from the Supreme Court, Srivastava stressed that identification of encroachers must precede eviction and added that NFR relied on cooperation of the state government on the matter.
When asked, the GM admitted that NFR has approached the state government on multiple occasions with this matter. He said the state has formed the High Power Committee (HPC) on encroachment and claimed that details had been furnished to the state government for requisite action.
He expressed optimism on the state government’s commitment, noting that progress was evident and that the matter was moving in the right direction.
He asserted that any land patta issued by the district administration on railway lands would be revoked, and that no compensation would be granted to encroachers. “Compensation for railway land is not under consideration,” he reiterated.
On the project’s timeline, he asserted that Railways could promptly commence work once the necessary land was allocated.