DIMAPUR, Sept 17 - Nagaland Chief Minister TR Zeliang today met Union Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu at his office at the Railway Bhawan, New Delhi, and pointed out that a rail line should be aligned from Dhansiripar (Nagaland) to Korang (Manipur) via Peren district and then on to Moreh via Imphal in order to have proper rail connectivity with Southeast Asian countries.
According to a press release issued by the Chief Minister�s Office, �This alignment was found to be technically feasible and was accordingly approved and budgeted in 1997. But owing to political considerations on the part of the Manipur Government and the then UPA Government at the Centre, a realignment was made, bypassing Nagaland, with the idea of connecting the Southeast Asian nations from Silchar to Tepul for which works have started.�
But this is a circuitous route passing through impossible mountain terrains and it will not be feasible geographically to connect Imphal with Tepul (Manipur), Zeliang said and added that since Railway Ministry experts had approved of the route from Dhansiripar to Korang, the then Railway Minister, Nitish Kumar, had laid the foundation stone for the project at Karong.
Union Railway Minister Prabhu directed the officials present in the meeting to take up the matter urgently with the regional office at Guwahati (Maligaon) and coordinate with the Government of Nagaland.
On the Dimapur-Zubza Railway line, the Union Minister assured the Chief Minister that funds have already been made available, and that the works would start soon.
The Chief Minister also brought to the notice of the Union Minister the need and importance of the proposed Dimapur-Tizit Railway line. Prabhu consulted his officials and said that the project would be cleared very soon along with other proposals pending with the Ministry.
Prabhu further assured that proposals and projects for Nagaland are cleared at the earliest.
The Nagaland Chief Minister is scheduled to sit in a series of meetings with several Union ministers and dignitaries in the next couple of days in New Delhi.
