Indian Railways To Expand Network in NE to Aid Border Security
The Indian Railways is planning to extend its railway network to Tawang in Arunachal Pradesh and other parts of the Northeast frontier state as part of India’s security strategy for the Line of Actual Control (LAC) along the India-China border.
The final location survey for these projects has been completed, and the Northeast Frontier Railway has submitted its report to a higher authority, according to Anshul Gupta, the General Manager.
The Defence Ministry has approved three projects, including Bame-Aalo up to Mechuka, Pasighat-Parshuram-Wakro, and Pasighat new line, with the aim of completing the Pasighat new line work by March 2025. Furthermore, the NF Railway is working to complete rail connectivity to Aizawl by December of this year.
“There is some delay in Imphal connectivity after the Tupul incident. We are engaging in some precautionary works and we are targeting to complete the works by December 2024.
“The Sikkim works will be completed by December 2024, and the train will run to Serima in Nagaland in September this year. We will complete the railway project work of Serima to Kohima by March 2024. There is an umbrella project of border and hilly area connectivity projects worth Rs 1.20 lakh crore by aiming to connect some important towns and border areas of Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Mizoram, and Sikkim and we are working on it with the state government, different organizations, Indian army,” Anshul Gupta said.
The NF Railway has partnered with Railtel to implement an Intrusion Detection System (IDS) for wildlife protection and disaster mitigation. The system uses AI-based software and optical fibre cable (OFC) to monitor and safeguard wild elephants from train collisions. The IDS has already been implemented in the Lumding division and the Alipurduar division and has been working effectively for the past few months. Anshul Gupta, General Manager of NF Railway, said that the MoU was signed to expand the system on a larger scale by using Railtel’s cable.
Source: ANI
