Historically, successive Indian governments have ignored the country’s North-Eastern region which led to the region being deprived of critical infrastructure. The advent of the Modi government has been a major boon for the region as the government not only has invested in leaders from the region with the likes of Kiren Rijiju and Himanta Biswa Sarma coming to mind but also invested in critical infrastructure which will connect the region to the rest of India. Now, Aizawl – the capital of Mizoram is all set to be on the railway map in the next two years.
According to a railway official, construction of the 51.38 km long stretch of the broad gauge railway line between Sairang which is 20 km away from Aizawl and Bairabi on the Mizoram-Assam border is expected to be completed by December 2023 which will put Aizawl on the country’s railway map.
The railway official revealed that 89.55 per cent of earthwork, 37 per cent of major bridges and about 73.26 per cent of minor bridges have already been completed with nearly all tenders for various works being finalised. The official added 21 per cent of the construction of cut and cover tunnels has also been completed.
Prime Minister Modi laid the foundation stone of the Sairang-Bairabi broad gauge line back in November 2014. However, the Rs. 5521.45 crore railway project faced its fair share of delays. It was kick-started in 2015, the project was slated to be completed in 2018, however, faced several hurdles, like hilly terrain, deep valleys and gorges, frequent landslides, short duration of the working season due to monsoon and lack of labour and construction materials in the state of Mizoram.
According to a statement by the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), “Better rail connectivity will lead to economic development not only of the people of the Mizoram but also for the entire NE region.”
The statement added, “Traders of the state will be able to bring items of daily consumption as well as construction materials in a much cheaper, cost-effective, and eco-friendly way. Farmers of the state will be able to send their produce to the wider market of the various states at cheaper rate and time-bound manner.”
Such critical infrastructure projects are crucial to tap the tremendous economic potential of the country’s North East. The Modi government must be lauded for its sustained focus on a state like Mizoram and making efforts to bring it on the railway map, which had been criminally neglected by successive Indian governments.