New Delhi, Jun 5 : A worried Centre will send a team of officials to assess the latest situation in the North Cachar Hills district in Assam taking into consideration that suspended goods and passenger trains would eventually lead to a food crisis in at least two states of the region.
After the attacks by the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) on labourers working on the gauge conversion project in Assam, only nine of the 27 stations on the Lumding-Badarpur rail link are operational today.The ninth station was opened today. However, passenger trains are still suspended on the route that is the vital supply link for Manipur and Mizoram to the rest of India.
When all trains were stopped for 10 days on May 15, goods trains carrying food supplies to the two far-flung states could not reach their destinations.
A delegation led by special secretary (internal security) M.L. Kumawat will visit area this week. The team is likely to include the director-general of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), M.K. Sinha.
The Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam gauge conversion project was declared a national project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this year. Over the past two days, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi held meetings with the Prime Minister, home minister Shivraj Patil and defence minister Pranab Mukherjee where security in the North Cachar Hills topped the agenda.
While Gogoi has blamed the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) besides the DHD (J), it has also been blamed for delaying security to the vital rail link.
At present, of the five goods trains and three passenger trains, only goods trains are running during the day. “Night trains are still suspended at night because of the security scare. As for passenger trains, they will run soon,” Samir Goswami, chief public relations officer of the North East Frontier Railways said over phone.
The delegation’s visit to the area is significant also because routine maintenance on the railway link has resumed. Usually, maintenance is carried out in the hill section of the 185-km railway route before the monsoon sets in.
Beefing up security during this period will be an imperative for the line to remain functional and assure smooth supply of food grains to Manipur and Mizoram.
The alternative road routes, National Highway 39 from Dimapur-Imphal and National Highway 53 connecting Silchar to Manipur are both affected by militancy.
Telegraph India
After the attacks by the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel) on labourers working on the gauge conversion project in Assam, only nine of the 27 stations on the Lumding-Badarpur rail link are operational today.The ninth station was opened today. However, passenger trains are still suspended on the route that is the vital supply link for Manipur and Mizoram to the rest of India.
When all trains were stopped for 10 days on May 15, goods trains carrying food supplies to the two far-flung states could not reach their destinations.
A delegation led by special secretary (internal security) M.L. Kumawat will visit area this week. The team is likely to include the director-general of the Railway Protection Force (RPF), M.K. Sinha.
The Lumding-Silchar-Jiribam gauge conversion project was declared a national project by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh this year. Over the past two days, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi held meetings with the Prime Minister, home minister Shivraj Patil and defence minister Pranab Mukherjee where security in the North Cachar Hills topped the agenda.
While Gogoi has blamed the NSCN (Isak-Muivah) besides the DHD (J), it has also been blamed for delaying security to the vital rail link.
At present, of the five goods trains and three passenger trains, only goods trains are running during the day. “Night trains are still suspended at night because of the security scare. As for passenger trains, they will run soon,” Samir Goswami, chief public relations officer of the North East Frontier Railways said over phone.
The delegation’s visit to the area is significant also because routine maintenance on the railway link has resumed. Usually, maintenance is carried out in the hill section of the 185-km railway route before the monsoon sets in.
Beefing up security during this period will be an imperative for the line to remain functional and assure smooth supply of food grains to Manipur and Mizoram.
The alternative road routes, National Highway 39 from Dimapur-Imphal and National Highway 53 connecting Silchar to Manipur are both affected by militancy.
Telegraph India
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