KAZIRANGA, April 9 - �The Government of India under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is very much concerned about the all-round development of the north-eastern region, for which he has specifically instructed his Council of Ministers to ensure that infrastructure development in terms of telecommunication, surface transport and railway services in new areas, including remote places must be made available for the collective benefit and economic uplift of the NE region.� This was observed by Union Minister of State (Independent charge) for Railways, Manoj Sinha while addressing mediapersons at Bagori Forest Inspection Bungalow on Saturday.
Railway and Communications Minister Sinha said that the previous Government had invested Rs 2,121 crore only for infrastructure development, whereas the current BJP Government after assuming charge has invested around Rs 5,316 crore in the Railway sector, which was an increase of about 152 per cent. The Minister added that in many sectors, gauge conversion works, including in the Agartala-Lumding-Silchar, Lumding- Silchar-Badarpur had been completed. The work at Rangiya-Murkongselek, Balipara-Bhalukpong and North Lakhimpur-Murkongselek works are also being finished.
Sinha said till now Rs 3689 crore had been spent for the construction Bogibeel bridge over the river Brahmaputra, adding that very shortly a pit and sick line system would be placed in service for the nation at Silghat railway station at the cost of Rs 25 crore. In a pit and sick line, the train is parked in which the railway engineers and technical experts try to determine if there is any defect or mechanical failure in the particular train and repair it soon so that the train can continue its onward journey.
With regard to speedy telephonic connectivity, Sinha said that work on optical fibre system of communication is nearing completion in Assam and the mobile services would be made available to uncovered areas soon. He added that special radio and satellite system of communication would be placed in Karbi Anglong and Dima Hasao districts for the effective telephonic connectivity.
Earlier at Silghat railway station, a new demo train service between Silghat and Guwahati was formally flagged off by Union Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain. State Minister for Water Resources Keshav Mahanta, Union State Railway Minister Manoj Sinha and officials of Railways were present during the ceremony. The demo train will leave Silghat at 5.15 am and reach Guwahati at 9.15 am. It was also announced that a new bridge would be constructed over the river Brahmaputra to connect with Tezpur town from Silghat. There will be railway connectivity between Chalna to Kumtai, sources said.
