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DoNER help for railway

Guwahati, Sep 9 : DoNER minister B.K. Handique today decided to move the Union ministries of defence and forest to extend all possible help to the railways to complete the delayed Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project by 2012.
Sources privy to a meeting convened by the minister at Lumding in Assam’s Nagaon district to review the status of six railway projects in the Northeast said Handique made the commitment after railway representatives cited several reasons for the delay in execution of the projects.
The Lumding-Silchar project was the special focus of the nearly three-hour-long meeting. The railways maintained that it had been delayed because of minimal flow of funds, insurgency, poor accessibility, land acquisition and objections from the army and forest authorities.
Railway officials said the army had objected to the construction at Retzol village because the land was allotted to them 25 years ago to set up a defence training institute. The divisional forest office, Haflong, objected to the construction of a bridge on the ground that the land belonged to them.
In both cases, the disputed land had been bought by the railways from the NC Hills Autonomous Council.
“The minister assured NF Railway that he would take up the issue with the respective ministries to remove all hurdles. He will undertake another review after four weeks and submit his findings to the PMO,” a source said.
Railway officials said the minimal release of funds from 1996 to 2004 was the key reason for the delay. So far, the railways had blamed the delay on law and order.
“In the eight years since its launch, we got only Rs 330 crore against an estimated Rs 4,000 crore. It jumped substantially after it was declared a national project by the Prime Minister in 2004. We have since received nearly Rs 1,300 crore of which Rs 490 crore was released in 2008,” an NF Railway source said.
“We have made 43 per cent progress. If the prevailing situation continues we will be able to commission the project by 2012. But we cannot specify the date,” the source added.
The meeting was attended by Assam chief secretary P.C. Sharma, director-general of police Shankar Barua, former Union minister S.M. Dev, sitting MPs Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya, B.S. Engti and Rajen Gohain, and a senior home ministry official.
Guwahati, Sep 9 : DoNER minister B.K. Handique today decided to move the Union ministries of defence and forest to extend all possible help to the railways to complete the delayed Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project by 2012.
Sources privy to a meeting convened by the minister at Lumding in Assam’s Nagaon district to review the status of six railway projects in the Northeast said Handique made the commitment after railway representatives cited several reasons for the delay in execution of the projects.
The Lumding-Silchar project was the special focus of the nearly three-hour-long meeting. The railways maintained that it had been delayed because of minimal flow of funds, insurgency, poor accessibility, land acquisition and objections from the army and forest authorities.
Railway officials said the army had objected to the construction at Retzol village because the land was allotted to them 25 years ago to set up a defence training institute. The divisional forest office, Haflong, objected to the construction of a bridge on the ground that the land belonged to them.
In both cases, the disputed land had been bought by the railways from the NC Hills Autonomous Council.
“The minister assured NF Railway that he would take up the issue with the respective ministries to remove all hurdles. He will undertake another review after four weeks and submit his findings to the PMO,” a source said.
Railway officials said the minimal release of funds from 1996 to 2004 was the key reason for the delay. So far, the railways had blamed the delay on law and order.
“In the eight years since its launch, we got only Rs 330 crore against an estimated Rs 4,000 crore. It jumped substantially after it was declared a national project by the Prime Minister in 2004. We have since received nearly Rs 1,300 crore of which Rs 490 crore was released in 2008,” an NF Railway source said.
“We have made 43 per cent progress. If the prevailing situation continues we will be able to commission the project by 2012. But we cannot specify the date,” the source added.
The meeting was attended by Assam chief secretary P.C. Sharma, director-general of police Shankar Barua, former Union minister S.M. Dev, sitting MPs Lalit Mohan Suklabaidya, B.S. Engti and Rajen Gohain, and a senior home ministry official.