Nitish opens Kumarghat-Manu Railway line

AGARTALA, Dec 28 — As the clickety clicks of the rail wheels reverberated in the high hills of Langtarai range and thousands of people rejoined. Railway Minister Nitish Kumar flagged off the first train on Kumarghat-Manu sector in North district on Friday afternoon. This was the beginning of a new era of communication in this hilly land-locked state. With the opening of the 21-kilometre rail track that pierced through high hills and deep forests, the total length of the rail line in the state stands at 64 km. And it took long 38 years of wait, speculations and movements at various levels. Now if everything goes in the right direction, and at the present pace of work, the much awaited 109 km-long Kumarghat-Agarlala rail link is expected to be opened within three years. There are reasons to be hopeful because not only the Railway Minister assured that the project would be completed within three years but also for the reason that the railway despite all geographical odds and extremist problem could complete the Kumarghat-Manu sector before the stipulated time. Speaking at the function Nitish Kumar informed that the Centre was committed to connecting all the North-east state capitals by rail network. The work on this project was going on smoothly in all the states though there were some problems in land acquisition in Manipur, he said. “Within the next 34 months, we hope the railway line will reach the state capital Agartala as the works are in full swing,” he said. The Railway Minister also announced a cash award of Rs 5 lakh for the employees of the railways responsible for completing the work ahead of the scheduled deadline March 2003, and a computerised reserved centre at Kumarghat. On the Agartala-Sabroom railway line, the Minister said, the survey work had been completed and once the line is completed upto Agartala, work would begin. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar speaking on the occasion hoped that the Agartala-Manu section would also be completed before schedule and Agartala would be in close proximity with Chittagong port. The entire section would change once the railway line is completed. He also lauded the Late Dasharath Dev and Biren Datta for their efforts in making railway line in Tripura, a reality. Member Engineer, Railway Board KG Singh, General Manager Vipan Nanda, General Manager (Con) and other high officials were also present on the occasion. Later, the packed train left for Manu in it’s maiden run. It may be recalled that railway line was first extended to Tripura on April 22, 1964 when Chauraibari on Tripura-Assam border was connected with North Tripura town Dharmanagar. Twenty-two years later on March 26, 1986, the 12 km-long rail line was then extended upto Pecharthal. Four years later, on January 4, 1990 the then Railway Minister George Fernandes flagged off the first train on the 11 km Pecharthal-Kumarghat sector. As the demand for connecting the Tripura capital with the rest of the country gained momentum in the state, on July 16, 1996 the rail budget proposed the Rs 896 Kumarghat-Agartala rail link. In the same year on October 23 the then Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda laid the foundation stone of the project at Assam Rifles field. According to railway officials, though the initial length of the Kumarghat-Agartala sector was estimated at 119 km later, the distance was reduced to 109 km.