Naharlagun-Guwahati Shatabdi Express flagged off

ITANAGAR, May 7:Union Minister of Railways Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu today laid the foundation stone for construction of a 26km long new broad gauge railway line from Murkongselek in Assam to Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh and announced commencement of surveys for seven new broad gauge railway lines in Arunachal Pradesh by remote through video link from Northeastern Frontier Railway headquarters at Maligaon (Guwahati) this morning.

 Chief Minister Pema Khandu, Railway Minister of State Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju, Deputy Chief Minister Chowna Mein, Ministers, Parliamentary Secretaries and legislators were among the dignitaries present at Naharlagun railway station. 

Prabhu along with Khandu also flagged off a new Shatabdi Express (No. 12088/12087) between Naharlagun and Guwahati. The Union Minister did it by remote through video link from NF Railway headquarters at Maligaon, while Khandu and others were present at the Naharlagun railway station here. 

The newly flagged off Shatabdi Express train will provide a speedier and comfortable connectivity between the capital cities of Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. This superfast fully air-conditioned train will cover the distance in six hours. 

It will start from Naharlagun at 05-00 am to arrive Guwahati at 11-00 am every Wednesday, Thursday andSaturday. From Guwahati it will leave at 03-20 pmto arrive Naharlagun at 09.20 pm every Monday,Wednesday and Friday. 

Flagging off the new train, the Railway Minister said that Indian Railways has accelerated its developmental work and in the last three years alone had invested close to Rs. 3.5 lakh crore for various projects in the country for capacity enhancement. He also said that currently projects worth about RS. 90,000 crore are being executed in the northeast region. 

“Indian Railways is committed for not only providing better connectivity but also better passenger experience,” he said while informing that Railways will launch a new Application for mobile platform to address passenger grievances very soon. 

Calling the occasion as historic for Arunachal, Chief Minister Pema Khandu said the railway connectivity would open new vistas for economic development in the state. He hoped that the connectivity would boost tourism, increase agriculture and horticulture activities, and support other developmental activities such as hydropower, etc. 

Saying that Arunachal is poised for growth in coming days, the Chief Minister appealed the people to cooperate with the government and take responsibility of their own development as team Arunachal. 

Khandu said the Prime Minister is very much concerned about development of Arunachal and one can see development activities taking place along that line. He said the people of Arunachal should be grateful to the PM for the kind of development ambition he has chalked out for the state.  

“To plan for railway connectivity in tough terrains of Arunachal itself shows great leadership quality of the PM and the concern he has for the state,” he pointed. 

Stressing that connectivity is a major issue for Arunachal, Khandu said that under Narendra Modi’s leadership, the highway ministry has announced Rs 50000 crore to connect missing links in the state. 

He asserted the six ALGs and civilian airports would be made functional soon. 

Khandu assured that once the surveys are completed and the seven railway lines become functional, all foothill places of the state will be interconnected. 

“Expect tremendous boost in economic benefits in the near future,” he said. 

Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain and Minister of State Home Affairs Kiren Rijiju also spoke on the occasion. While congratulating the people on the new milestone, both appealed for cooperation to finish the announced projects on time. They assured support and cooperation of the central government as the Prime Minister had special concern for development of North East on all fronts. 

 

The seven new lines in the state for which reconnaissance engineering cum traffic survey commenced are Lekhapani-Kharsang (25 km), Itakhola-Seijosa (18 km), Doomdooma-Namsai-Wakro (96 km), Dangri-Roing (60 km), Deomali-Naharkatia (20 km), Lekhapani-Miao-Deban (75 km) and Tinsukia-Pasighat via Simaluguri and Kanubari (300 km).

These surveys are in addition to the surveys already announced for strategic lines connecting Tawang, Aalo and Parasuramkund, and are targeted for completion by December 2018.

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Kenter Joya Riba

(Managing Editor)
      She is a graduate in Science with post graduation in Sociology from University of Pune. She has been in the media industry for nearly a decade. Before turning to print business, she has been associated with radio and television.
Email: kenterjoyaz@easternsentinel.in / editoreasternsentinel@gmail.com
Phone: 0360-2212313

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