Morung Express News
Dimapur | June 17
The completion of the Dhansiri-Zubza rail line would be further delayed. The targeted date of completion for the 90km long Broad Gauge line has been set to March 2024. This was informed at a virtual press conference addressed by the General Manager of the North East Frontier Railway (NFR) on June 17.
The reason for the extension was attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, while other details could not be availed for time constraint.
If the existing targeted completion deadline is accounted for, the period of construction would be 8 years. The project took off some 5 years ago with the then Union railway Minister laying the foundation stone in August 2016. At the time, the completion timeframe was March 2020, which was extended to 2023 and to 2024.
Meanwhile, other NFR sources on the ground informed that land-related issues were one of the main reasons for the delay, initially. This was resolved but the COVID pandemic forced the extension by one more year, one of the source said.
Aside for sourcing constructions materials, “The fear of COVID-19 has greatly impacted progress of work over the past year,” the source disclosed, while adding that ILP related issues has also come in the way of movement of labourers from outside the State.
According to him, a few labourers had tested positive, which virtually put a stop to work in certain locations, where tunneling is on. At least one labourer engaged in the project was said to have succumbed to COVID-19.
As far as the work in the plains segment is concerned, it was informed that track has been laid till Shoxuvi and it would be likely that trains would run till the Shoxuvi station soon.
