With sanction of Rs.1.40 Crore for upgrade, makeover for Jorhat Station on cards

With sanction of Rs.1.40 Crore for upgrade, makeover for Jorhat Station on cards

Jorhat Town (JTTN): Barely a week after NF Railway officials conceded that funds were yet to be allotted for the loop line and other demands of the people here, divisional railway manager, Tinsukia division, Anik Daulat said Rs 1.40 crore had been sanctioned for upgrade of the Jorhat station.

Total sanction for the Tinsukia division is Rs 14 crore.

Jorhat MP Kamakhya Prasad Tasa today laid the foundation stone of extension of platform shed number one by 53 metres and the platform by 100 metres.

Daulat said though Jorhat, the last capital of the Ahoms, is one of the oldest stations in the state, it had not been given due importance. He wants to make this a heritage station. “We will soon rectify this by upgrading the station’s facilities with the funds,” he said.

The schemes include a new waiting room, a booking area and levelling of the dilapidated road to the station. Also on the anvil is a goods shed at the JPR junction here and a cemented platform, both to be built at a cost of Rs 1 crore.

Daulat said Rs 50 crore had been sanctioned for a loco shed at Mariani and work was under way. Commercial inspector Amalendu Biswas said at present a diesel engine in need of repair had to be taken to New Guwahati loco shed or to Siliguri. The Mariani locoshed would serve trains to Upper Assam. He also said the Guwahati-Lokmanya Tilak Express has been extended to Dibrugarh and efforts are on to extend it till Katra in Jammu.

On the sanction of the loop line from Mariani which would enable long-distance trains to pass through Jorhat railway station, the divisional railway manager has asked Tasa to appeal to the Centre to fast-track the project. With the loop line, big trains will not have to reverse engines at Mariani. It absence delays trains by over three hours.

Speaking about the unauthorised crossings, he said between Mariani and Jorhat there are 90 unmanned crossings, which bring down the speed of trains to 30kmph, resulting in a daily loss of Rs 2 lakh in fuel costs.

Tasa asked additional deputy commissioner, revenue, P.K. Das, to urgently acquire land near Cinnamara FCI godown so that rakes could unload FCI goods there. This would cut down on traffic jam and accidents caused by trucks plying with the goods.