TEZPUR, March 1 ? The 106-year-old Tezpur railway station in Assam?s Sonitpur district built by the British is in dilapidated state, lying virtually abandoned thanks to the neglect by the authorities. The station, situated on the banks of the river Brahmaputra at Old Steamerghat, is a victim of severe erosion and the existing buildings of the staff are in bad shape due to neglect for at least three decades by the railway authorities, the locals say.
The chief public relation officer of the North-east Frontier railway, Leena Sharma, however denies there was a callous attitude on the part of the authorities towards the station. In fact, a Rs 400 crore proposal has been submitted to the Railway Board for the entire project which was expected to be cleared by year end, she says. Work was expected to start early next year after the clearance was obtained from the Board, Sharma says.
The station master of the railway station, CK Pandit, who is still officiating says the rail link in northern Assam connecting Tezpur with Balipara bordering neighbouring Arunachal Pradesh was built in public interest but is again not in a very good shape due to lack of revenue as most of the passengers travel without tickets. However, things have changed slightly for the better with the installation of computerised ticket counters, he says.
Pandit recollects that although the British set up the station on the bank of the river, a huge area on the Western side was eroded. On several occasions, flood water inundated even the railway station and the passengers had to board the bogies after being ferried by boats, he says. Although there was a decision from the Railway Ministry to completely change the existing metre gauge railway tracks to broad gauge by 2005, no orders have come till now, Pandit says.
According to the office bearers of the North Assam Chamber of Commerce and Industry (NACCI) there was a proposal for broad gauge conversion of the railway line from Rangiya to Tezpur which has been pending with the railway ministry since 1998. NACCI says the project was in the Ninth Plan and the work was planned in several phases to connect remotest parts of the region, including Mukongselek but so far no action has been taken.
However, a prominent public body, the North Assam Demand Implementation Committee (NADIC) has called for shifting of the unsafe railway station to Dekargaon, seven km away from Tezpur. According to officials of the Committee, although a temporary retaining wall was erected a few metres away from the railway station a few years back, the erosion of the river continued and there was a likelihood that the entire construction may be washed away.
Members of the NADIC say that if the station could be shifted to Dekargaon there was sufficient Government land available for expansion of the station. The state PWD authorities, they say, may be able to further widen the breadth of the seven km road to accommodate increasing traffic and provide land to convert adjoining areas for residential and business purposes.
The unemployed youth would also get self employment by introducing transportation facilities for the passengers between Tezpur and Dekargaon. Meanwhile, leading citizens and NGOs have demanded shifting of the railway station from the historical city to make it more beautiful.
Sarkar said ?six months? time will be completed on March 4 and there is no scope of forming ministry before March 4, so he dissolved the Assembly.? The election to the 60-member House in Tripura was held on February 26 last and counting of votes will be taken up tomorrow.?