Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project workers seek security

Sushanta Talukdar

“Work on the project will not be resumed until normality is restored”
Guwahati: The fate of the 201-km Lumding-Silchar gauge conversion project of the Northeast Frontier Railway has become uncertain with the N.F. Railway Construction Contractors’ Association on Saturday announcing that the work, which was suspended in the wake of a spurt in militant violence in the North Cachar Hills district in Assam, would not be resumed until normality was restored.

The association office bearers told journalists here that a meeting chaired by General Manager (Construction) N.F. Railway, that was attended by association representatives and senior railway officials on Friday, unanimously resolved that the situation in the N.C. Hills section was not conducive to work and until normality was restored the work would not be resumed.Train services suspended

The railway authorities on May 15 suspended train services in the Lumding-Badarpur Section and also evacuated about 1200 railway staff from 13 railway stations of the N.C. Hills district following the spurt in violence by the Dima Halam Daogah (Jewel faction), also known as Black Widow.

The association said that despite similar threats from insurgent outfits in Tripura, work on the 117.82 km Badarpur-Kumarghat railway line had already been completed and the 109 km Kumarghat-Agartala line was nearing completion as the State government had provided security for construction workers and staff engaged in the project.

He said Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had been personally monitoring the security arrangements and the progress of the work.

General secretary of the association Shankar Das said that since work on the Lumding-Silchar guage conversion project started in 1997, over 50 workers and technical staff had been killed, many had been kidnapped and subsequently killed by insurgents active in the hills district.
He admitted that some members of the association had been forced to pay ransom under threat to militant outfits to secure the release of abducted construction workers and staff.
When the project work was in full swing, about 5000 workers including technical staff and skilled and non-skilled workers were deployed by 16 contractors.

The association has estimated a loss of about Rs. 50 crore during the past one month due to the spurt in insurgency. It has moved the railway authorities for security cover to demobilise equipment from work sites to safer locations.

The association said that so far only 18 of the 83 major bridges, 292 of the 337 minor bridges and 3271 of the 10328 metres of 17 tunnels had been completed.
Mr. Das said that though the deadline was revised from 2005 to 2010, it would take 10 more years to complete the project. Source: http://www.hindu.com/2008/05/26/stories/2008052659661100.htm