Lack of foresight main reason for rail connectivity issue in Assam: Ex-IRS officer

Guwahati, Nov 12: The saying "a stitch in time saves nine" came true once again while constructing a double line of the Indian Railways. Due to the lack of foresight of some persons in the Railway headquarters, another bridge will now have to be constructed over the river Brahmaputra to deal with the problem.

The Railways, in a bid to smoothen the train movement to Guwahati, constructed a second line from New Bongaigaon to Amingaon and a double line already existed inside Guwahati. The second line was constructed after persistent demands from various organisations. But the trains will be clogged at Saraighat Bridge as there is no scope for constructing a second line on the rail cum road bridge.

Railway sources admitted that a proposal for the construction of a second Railway bridge at Saraighat has been sent to the Railway Board but it will take years to construct the bridge and till that time, the trains will be clogged at Saraighat.

Railway sources said that another double line from New Bongaigaon to Azara has been constructed but it would be difficult to extend it to Guwahati as several cases of elephant hits took place on the existing line near the Deepar Beel. Several adjutant storks were also killed by train hits in the area and it is unlikely that the Railways will get permission to extend the second line beyond Azara.

Commenting on the issue, former Indian Railway Service (IRS) officer Robin Kalita admitted that lack of foresight is the main reason for the present predicament. He revealed that when the construction of the Saraighat rail-cum-road bridge started, the then chief engineer of the NF Railway BC Ganguly had proposed that the rail bridge should be wide enough for the construction of two broad gauge lines, but his proposal was not accepted and two-meter gauge tracks were laid. The contention of some officers of the Railway Board at that time was that it would take around 50 years for broad gauge lines to come to Assam.

However, the broad gauge line came to Guwahati in 1984 and only one broad gauge track could be laid on the Saraighat bridge. The Saraighat bridge, which was inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru in 1963, was constructed at a cost of Rs 10.79 crore.

The bridge could have been widened to accommodate two BG lines by spending an additional Rs 3 crore. That was not done and now a huge amount of money will have to be spent to construct a new Railway bridge.

The same was the case during the construction of the second Saraighat bridge. There was a huge demand for making it a rail-cum-road bridge but the Central Government ignored the demands and started construction of a road bridge in 2007 and it was inaugurated in 2017. “If the second bridge at Saraighat was made a rail-cum-road bridge, the problem that we are facing now could have been solved but again lack of foresight created the present situation,” Kalita added.

Though the Kolia Bhomora bridge was constructed by the Railways, the Central Government refused to accept the demand for the construction of a rail-cum-road bridge and went ahead with only a road bridge.

-By Ramanuj Dutta Choudhury