Union Railway Minister to lay foundation stone today
Imkong Walling
Dimapur | July 31
Almost a decade after it was announced, the long awaited Dhansiri-Zubza rail line project will officially come to life on August 1, 2016. The foundation stone laying ceremony for the 90.5km Broad Gauge (BG) line will be held today at the Dimapur Railway Station with the Union Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu, doing the honours.
The new BG line will break off from the Dhansiri rail station in Karbi-Anglong and pass over the Dhansiri River before covering a distance of less than 20 km (approximate) through the plains of Dhansiripar sub-division, snaking up the hills from Shoxuvi to culminate at Zubza in Kohima district. The Dhansiri station is less than 5 km west of Dhansiripar sub-divisional headquarters under Dimapur district.
Initially proposed to start from the Dimapur Railway Station, the present alignment Dhansiri-Dhansiripar-Shoxuvi-Molvom-Khaibung-Chephema-Khabvuma-Zubza was finalised after two initial surveys faced opposition from land owners and the Union Ministry of Environment and Forests. The first alignment from Toulazouma via Chumukedima not only faced opposition from landowners but was also reported to be technically not feasible. The second survey was also shelved as it cut through the Nagaland Zoological Park.
The alignment was later revised and the rail head moved to Dhansiri station - 19km from Dimapur, from where the new BG line will emerge. The problem of compensating landowners, like any public project in Nagaland, was reported to have played a major role in delaying the start of the project.
With a projected cost estimate of Rs. 2500 crores, the project completion date has been set as March 2020. The Chief Administrative Officer of the project, Ajit Pandit feels that the completion deadline can be met if all goes according to plan. “The (route) alignment has been consented to by the government. Hopefully there will be no problem,” said Pandit, speaking to The Morung Express on Sunday.
Laying the track will require around 900 hectares of land. Out of this, around 300 hectares have been acquired and the landowners compensated, he said, while adding that work has already started in sections where land deals has been finalised.
According to him, the project can meet the March 2020 deadline provided the process of land acquisition poses no roadblock. In this regard, he said that the role of the Nagaland State Government and the public in particular will prove to be crucial.
Compensation for landowners at the rate of Rs. 25 per square foot (for rural areas) has been released through the Nagaland State Government for the land already acquired, he said, though the amount involved was not disclosed. “Whatever is reasonable we can give, what is not reasonable we cannot give,” maintained Pandit. Asked what would be the total cost of the land required for the project, he approximated that it could be around Rs. 500 crores.
As per an RTI reply, the Nagaland State Government has acquired 933.28 hectares of land for the Dhansiri-Zubza BG line at Rs. 25 and Rs. 60. While the ‘Total cost of land’ was not indicated in the reply, the ‘Actual payment made’ was entered as Rs. 49,93,46,476/- (rupees forty nine crore, ninety three lakh, forty six thousand, four hundred and seventy six).
Around 2.5 km of the line falls within Karbi-Anglong district in Assam as in the portion of land between Dhansiri station and the Dhansiri River, which acts as the inter-state boundary in that area. On this, Pandit said that the necessary procedure is in progress with land owners of the area.
Further asked whether the sanctioned cost of Rs. 2315 will cover the expenses involved, he replied that working in hilly terrain normally incurs additional costs.
According to a project brochure released by the NFR, the work will be executed in 3 phases - Dhansiri-Shoxuvi section (16km) as the first phase, Shoxuvi-Khaibong (30km) as the second and Khaibong-Zubza (45km) as the third. The first is targeted for completion by December 2018, the second by December 2019 and the third by March 2020. The line will culminate 16 km short of Kohima.
