Jiribam-Imphal rail project on track

 During the review meeting it was decided to keep the momentum of work in full pace to meet the already set timeline in co-ordination with the state government. Despite the unfortunate landslide which happened near the railway project in Noney District and various other challenges, the entire Railway workforce has been working relentlessly to expedite the completion of the Jiribam- Imphal railway line.

 Anshul Gupta, General Manager, NF Railway and other senior railway and officials were also present during the review meeting. On Wednesday, Jardosh inspected various construction sites along with Gupta and other senior railway officials.

 The Jiribam-Imphal project is at a stretch of 110 km length. The commissioning of the project has been planned in four phases. In phase-I the section from Jiribam to Vangaichungpao (12 km) has already been commissioned in March, 2017. The phase-II from Vangaichungpao to Khongsang (44 km) work has already been completed, phase-III and phase-IV from Khongsang to Tupul (29 km) and Tupul to Imphal (26 km) are targeted to be completed by March, 2023 and December, 2023, respectively. The anticipated cost of the complete project is around Rs 14,322 crore. In this current financial year Rs 1,300 crore is planned to be invested.

 Sabyasachi De, CPRO, NFR said the Jiribam-Imphal project will cover all the major districts of Manipur viz Jiribam, Tamenglong, Noney, Kangpokpi, Imphal West. It will have 11 major bridges and 129 minor bridges and will run via 11 stations in this route. Presently, the journey from Jiribam to Imphal takes around 10-12 hours by road. After completion of this railway project the same distance shall be covered in less than 2 hours. It will also help in receiving of essential commodities faster by the state and also help the state local producers to export their produces outside the state faster.

 The construction of the Jiribam-Imphal new BG line project is going on as part of connecting all the state capitals of the NE states through railways. This project will connect Imphal, the capital city of Manipur. Expansion of rail connectivity in Northeast has been the topmost priority of the present Central Govt. It may be mentioned here that fund allocation for rail connectivity in NE states has been increased by 254% in last eight years (2014-22) period. It will help in improving connectivity as well as assist the North-eastern region becoming a logistic hub leading to economic transformation.