GUWAHATI, June 7 � The Indian Railways� is aiming to finish work at the 84-km-long Jiribam-Tupul segment of the new rail line project between Jiribam to Imphal by March 2016.
Officials at the Northeast Frontier Railway (Construction) said the Jiribam-Tupul section will require a total 1,310 hectare of land and of this, work is in progress in 1,263 hectares.
�There will be 112 minor bridges, six major bridges, three road over-bridges (ROB) and two road under-bridges (RUB). Out of that, work on 52 minor bridges has been completed. Construction of ROBs and RUBs has also been completed,� a NFR (Construction) official said.
The project will have 34 tunnels totaling 39,401 metres and of that tunneling work for 18,152 metres has been completed till now.
�There will be six new station buildings, out of which work for one station building is in progress. Besides, 12.5 km track linking the main line from Jiribam to Dholakhal section and 1.20 km of loop line have also been completed. We expect to complete the project by March 2016,� the official said.
In the second phase, work on the 27-km stretch between Tupul and Imphal section will be taken up.
�Final Location Survey has already been completed for this section and the Railway Board has sanctioned an amount of Rs 1,397 crore for this section,� the official said.
There will be 12 tunnels with a total length of 15.1 km, three major bridges and 27 minor bridges and two station buildings excluding Tupul.
�We expect to complete that section by March 2018,� the official said.
The special feature of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal project is Bridge No 164, which, with a pier height of 141 metre, will be the tallest girder rail bridge in the world surpassing the existing Malarijeka viaduct in Montenegro which stands at 139 metres.
Jiribam, the only rail-head in Manipur, is an extension of 1.5 km of Lumding-Silchar metre gauge section, which is presently being converted into broad gauge. The project has great strategic importance as trouble-torn Manipur is now totally dependent on roads for transport of goods and people.
