The ACAUT Nagaland has reminded the State Government on its lack of commitment in assisting Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) for redeveloping of Dimapur Railway Station into a world class with an allotted fund of Rs. 283 crore.
“The transformation project at Dimapur Railway Station was scheduled to begin by April’30.2024 but due to delay in eviction of illigal settelers by the state Government, the proposed start of the project was probably rescheduled. The Dimapur Railway Station has been deprived of development for decades despite the station is estimated to handle on an average nearly ten thousand passengers both incoming and outgoing and used to earn the second highest revenue for the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR),” cited ACAUT.
It reminded that that Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation stone on August’ 6.2023 for the ambitious redevelopment of 508 railway stations across the country at an estimated cost of Rs. 1 Lakh crore of which Dimapur railway station is among 508 stations selected spanning across 27 states and union territories. The project is expected to revolutionize the passenger experience by offering modern amenities and well-designed traffic circulation.
“However, this remains in abeyance so long as land is not made available for redevelopment and expansion of Railway facilities. Reportedly, land encroachment started decades back and as per the NFR officials 30.283 hectares out of 53.806 hectares of railway land is encroached in Dimapur. However, due to the Nagaland Government’s inability to evict illegal encroachers or decide on alternative arrangment with NFR to either compensate or shift the Dimapur Railway Station elsewhere towards Thahekhu Block-7 or beyond incase the expansion of present railway station deems impossible,” stated ACAUT.
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It has also alleged that the NFR has approached the state government and still awaiting Government’s plan for the next course of action. Further, the detailed joint survey of the encroached land has not been conducted till date. “Such inordinate delay and unavailability of land might lead NFR to cancelling the project or divert the proposed development to nearby station in Assam. This would reduce Dimapur station to a mere transit station, forcing the public to travel to Assam to board trains. Businesses would also need to travel to Assam for loading and unloading goods, resulting in significant losses for the people living in Nagaland,” it warned.
The redevelopment scheme, according to the organisation, not only aims at convenience of passengers but will also provide hundreds of local jobs. “But unfortunately this may become another desperate failure and lost due to the Government’s inaction. It is imperative for the government of the day to uphold the Rule of Law and deliver justice without fear or favour,” invoked the organisation.
Therefore, ACAUT Nagaland has strongly urged the Government of Nagaland to immediately begin eviction of illegal encroachers, demolish unauthorized structures, and hand over the land to Indian Railways.
