Guwahati/Aizawl, September 3 : The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) will connect the Myanmar border with India by rail via Manipur and Mizoram officials announced on Saturday.A top NFR official stated that although the final site survey of the 111-kilometer Imphal-Moreh (along Myanmar border) section is in progress in preparation for the building of an additional broad gauge line, the company is planned to create an extensive gauge line that runs that runs from Sairang close to Aizawl up to Hmawngbuchhuah in Mizoram’s Lawngtlai district, close to the Myanmar border.
The 223-km Sairang-Hmawngbuchhuah railway project had been abandoned earlier due to “economic non-viability”.
Mizoram’s sole Lok Sabha member C.Lalrosanga who has been urging the government to restart the railway project attended an interview with the official of the NFR at Guwahati on Friday.The railway officials assured the MP the revival of the crucial project.
An senior NFR official stated that even although the proposed railway line running from Sairang to Hmawngbuchhuah is “economically unsustainable project” project, it can be revived because it is strategically crucial to connect the northeast of India with the currently under construction Kaladan Multi-Modal Transit Transport Project in Myanmar under the Act East Policy.
According to a preliminary survey, the estimated cost of the proposed Sairang-Hmawngbuchhuah railway project is Rs 15,000 crore.
The NFR is currently working on the 51.38 km long railroad line that is broad gauge project that runs between Bairabi (near Assam border) and Sairang with an estimated cost of 6 527 crore rupees.
Sairang is located about 20 kilometers away from Mizoram capital Aizawl.
Construction of the Bairabi-Sairang railway’s broad-gauge line began in 2015 and is scheduled to be completed by the end of March 2023.
In addition, the NFR official also said that the final location survey from Moreh to Moreh along the border between India and Myanmar is scheduled to be completed in the near future after which the budget estimate will be finalized.
The capital of commerce of Manipur and the gateway for India into South-East Asia, Moreh is an emerging trade hub in India located on the border with Myanmar, with the city of Tamu on the opposite side of the border.
The Friendship Bridge between India and Myanmar in Moreh connects India to Kalewa in Myanmar’s Sagaing Division.
According to the official of the railway the proposed new wide gauge line when completed, will be of strategic importance and would form an integral part of the planned Trans-Asian Railway which would connect India with South East Asia through a rail system.
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