Morung Express News
Dimapur | April 5
Ministry of Railways today maintained that land belonging to Railways have been leased by the State government to private parties thereby hampering the development projects.
A 5-member team of the Passenger Amenities Committee (PAC), Ministry of Railways visited Dimapur Railway Station to supervise and inspect whether the amenities being provided by the Railway Board were in line with the classification of the stations and whether it met expectations.
Member of PAC, Lakshmi Prasad Jayaswal said Dimapur Railway Station met all requirements but pointed out that development was being obstructed owing to unauthorized encroachment. In this regard, he requested the state government to extend its cooperation with the Railways.
Jayaswal further said that Prime Minister, Narendra Modi was keen to develop entire North East region and various works have already started in the region. He said unless state government cooperates, development could not be materialized.
Commenting on the stalled development projects owing to encroachment, Sr. Divisional Engineer-IV, S. George said eviction drives were conducted on Railway’s land yet people came back with land pattas.
He attributed the stalled projects to producing of land pattas even within areas belonging to Railway land, which leads the matter to Court and remains pending. George was, however, hopeful that all such problems could be solved if the state Government extends its cooperation.
He said the Railways have already filed its statement in August 2016 on the encroachment issue but the Nagaland Government was yet to submit its statement till date. “State government is not cooperating with the Railways,” he said.
Responding to a query on the progress of Dimapur-Zubza Railway line, George disclosed that around 30% of the works have been completed and added that bridges on the route from Dhansiri railway station has been completed.
However, he did not give any assurance when the railway line would be operational, even as he informed that the Railway Minister, Suresh Prabhu had promised to finish the project by 2019.
The PAC members further informed that Wi-fi facilities- a joint venture of Railtel and Google- will be launched in Dimapur railway station. However, no specific details were provided in this regard.
