Citizen Forum demands shifting of Dibrugarh-Tinsukia railway line

The Citizens Forum for Development of Assam, a Tinsukia-based NGO, has requested Prime Minister Narendra Modi's help in relocating the Dibrugarh-Tinsukia railway line, which runs parallel to National Highway 37.

According to the forum, the 92-kilometer railway track that passes through several important towns in the Dibrugarh and Tinsukia districts has been a major bottleneck and development roadblock because it runs alongside the busy national highway, dividing townships.

"A railway line is, without a doubt, a lifeline for the development of any location. However, the existing railway track became the most significant impediment to these towns' development.

"Normally, the railway track should not run alongside national/state highways, which are considered engines of socio-economic development of any place," said Manoj Bajaj, General Secretary of the Tinsukia District Development Committee. "However, it is running all along from Dibrugarh to Dangri town of Tinsukia District via Lahoal, Dikom, Chabua, Tinsukia, Makum, Doomdooma and Talap, etc., dividing these town

Many commercial and residential establishments, industries, the Chabua Air Force Station, schools, colleges, hospitals, sports establishments, police stations, places of worship of all faiths, and the approaches to hundreds of villages covering thousands of people on the southern part of the railway track are all directly impacted by the lack of alternative access to their establishments other than crossing the rail tracks.

According to the letter, the railways continue to barricade the railway line, making it difficult for an ambulance or fire department to reach the needy in an emergency.

"A large number of the population have to cross the railway track daily at several manned and unmanned railway crossings along with loaded trucks, cars, rickshaws, etc., due to the growth of industrial and commercial activities on both sides of the railway track towards northern and southern directions, and the closing of railway gates has resulted in various inconveniences to the public at a large and economic loss to the nation." The railway track has also limited the widening of the road that runs parallel to the railway track," according to the memorandum.

The issue was also mentioned in the Master Plan of Tinsukia town in 1971, according to the NGO, and the Ministry of Railways conducted a survey for the shifting of said Railway line in 2012-13. However, a final decision in the best interests of the people has yet to be made.

"The only solution to the entire problem is to relocate the railway track from its current location to somewhere else," it added, citing a survey conducted by Railways in 2012-13.