Guwahati, August 21 (MExN): A meeting was held recently at Dispur between Northeast Frontier (NF) Railway and Government of Assam about construction of Road Over Bridges in Assam in lieu of existing level crossing gates. While Government of Assam delegation was led by Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma, Minister in charge of PWD, the NF Railway was led by Rajen Gohain, Minister of State for Railways. A press release from PJ Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer, NF Railway mentioned that there are 53 level crossing gates in Assam which qualify for replacement with Road Over Bridge (ROB) on 50:50 cost sharing basis. Out of these, 6 ROBs will be constructed by Railways by replacing existing level crossing gates during construction of double line from Digaru to Lumding. 11 level crossing gates between Kamakhya and New Guwahati are also likely to be eliminated after construction of the proposed Quadrupled Elevated Corridor. Preparation of Detailed Project Report (DPR) for construction of 7 ROBs on 50:50 cost sharing basis by Government of Assam with railways are underway, the release added. NF Railway is likely to receive the DPRs by the end of next month. Joint Inspection by Railways and PWD officials of 21 level crossing gate sites for construction of ROBs has been completed. Out of the balance 9 locations, some already have sanctioned ROBs and in few cases ROBs are not technically feasible, the release said. It further informed that the meeting decided that although cost of construction will be shared, either the State Government or Northeast Frontier Railway will undertake construction of some ROBs on “single entity basis”.
