IMPHAL, Manipur For its supplies, Manipur is dependent solely on either NH2 from Numaligarh via Nagaland, or NH37 from Silchar. NH2 is mostly shut due to bandhs and blockades; NH37 is no more than a dirt track. The planned railway line from Jiribam to Imphal will link the capital with the rest of India through Silchar, Haflong, Lumding and Guwahati in Assam. Vitals Jiribam-Imphal, 110.63 km * Estimated cost: Rs 6,570.75 cr * Physical progress: 33.03% (12.5-km Jiribam-Dholakhal section completed in March 2012) * Commissioning target: Ph 1 (Jiribam-Tupul) March 2018; Ph 2 (Tupul-Imphal) March 2019 High point Bridge No. 164 with a pier height of 141 m will be the world’s highest girder bridge. Highest existing currently, the Mala Rijeka Viaduct in Montenegro, is 139 m high Problems * 33 militant groups operate in project area * Economic blockades, bandhs are common * Kidnappings, firing at work site common * NH37 in bad shape, affects transportation of materials and machinery AGARTALA, Tripura The Guwahati-Lumding-Badarpur-Kumarghat-Agartala broad gauge link will probably be commissioned by October 2016. What Agartala is looking forward to, however, is the link to Kolkata through Bangladesh — which will cut travel time to less than a fourth of the Badarpur-Lumding-Guwahati-Siliguri route. A 15.06-km line between Agartala and Akhaura in Bangladesh is on the cards. Vitals Badarpur (Assam)-Agartala, 227 km * Metre gauge line needs conversion to broad * Estimated cost: Rs 1846.97 cr [Rs 528.60 cr for Badarpur-Kumarghat Phase 1 (118 km); Rs 1,318.37 crore for Kumarghat-Agartala Phase 2 (109 km)] * Physical progress: 13.01% in Phase 2 * Commissioning target: October 2016 AIZAWL, Mizoram Like Itanagar, Mizoram’s capital too will never see a train. Phase 2 of project will take a broad gauge line from Bhairabi, bordering Assam’s Barak Valley, to Sairang, on the Tlawng/Dhaleshwari river 20 km from Aizawl, with stations at Hortoki and Mualkhang. Vitals Katakhal (Assam) to Sairang, 135.38 km Phase 1: Katakhal-Bhairabi (Mizoram), 84 km * Conversion from MG to broad gauge * Estimated cost: Rs 331.40 cr * Physical progress: 95.37% * Commissioning target: March 2018 Phase 2: Bhairabi to Sairang, 51.38 km * Estimated cost: Rs 2,830 cr * Physical progress: 14.22% * Commissioning target: March 2018 Strategic The Railways is surveying a possible route from Sairang to Hmawngbuchhuah on Mizoram’s southern tip, bordering Myanmar’s Rakhine state. Hmawngbuchhuah neighbours Zochachhuah, where the under-construction Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project (KMMTTP) enters Myanmar. The KMMTTP, a road-cum-inland-waterway trade route over Kaladan river, will connect Kolkata with the Myanmarese deep-sea port of Sittwe. NFR is likely to complete the survey by August. SHILLONG, Meghalaya Vitals Tetelia (near Guwahati)-Shillong, 129.9 km n Estimated cost: Rs 5804.14 cr Phase 1: Digaru-Byrnihat, 21.50 km * Cost: Rs 496.24 cr * Physical progress: 22.89% Phase 2: Byrnihat-Shillong, 108.4 km * Physical progress: Survey on * Commissioning target: March 2020 KOHIMA, Nagaland The proposed line will be up to Zubza, 18 km ahead of the capital. “Outsiders” will need an Inner Line Permit. Vitals Dhansiri-Zubza, 91.75 km * Estimated cost: Rs 2,317 cr * Progress: First location survey complete * Commissioning target: March 2020 ITANAGAR, Arunachal Pradesh Vitals Harmuti (Assam)-Naharlagun, 21.75 km * Estimated cost: Rs 590 cr * Progress: Commissioned on April 7, 2014 GANGTOK, Sikkim Train can get to Rangpo, 38 km from capital Vitals Sivok (Bengal)-Rangpo (Sikkim), 44.96 km * Estimated cost: Rs 4,190 cr * Progress: Final locaton survey complete * Commissioning target: March 2020 * Pending: MoEF clearance for 98.49 Ha of reserve forest, including 8.85 Ha in Mahananda Wildlife Sanctuary
