Nagaland's Capital Likely to Get Railway Connectivity by 2029

KOHIMA: Nagaland’s capital, Kohima, is expected to wait at least another five years for railway connectivity due to delays in the Dhansiri-Zubza railway project, which now has a completion target of December 2029.

This revised timeline was disclosed on November 14 during a review meeting of the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) attended by Members of Parliament representing the Tinsukia division.

Based on the outcome presented in this meeting, it has been determined that the completion of Pherima-Zubza, 7.57 km in length, would be achieved by the end of 2029. The construction organization of NFR has accomplished 59% of the physical activities that need to be done to complete the construction work in its journey so far.

The Dhansiri-Zubza railway project has now been estimated to cost Rs 6663.2 crore. The eight key stations that the railway line joins them would be Dhansiri, Dhansiripar, Shukhovi, Molovom, Pherima, Piphema, Menguzuma, and Zubza.

However, it is the most belated in a succession of completion dates at the target completion dates from earlier forecasts. The NFR had targeted to complete the project by 2026. NFR has an update in December 2023 that pushed the date for completion of sections as far as Molvom and Pherima towards September 2024.

The Shokhuvi station was inaugurated in August 2022 and then an official of the NFR had initially projected that work up to Molvom would reach completion by March or April 2023; however, that has not materialized and has caused a significant setback to the project.

Meanwhile, the NSF has suggested that there should be an immediate setting up of a separate and independent ILP Commission whose mandate would be to evolve an all-rounded and strong regime to monitor and control entry into Nagaland.

NSF president Medovi Rhi and General Secretary Chumben Khuvong wrote a letter to the chief secretary, stating that this kind of commission should scrutinize, improve, and strictly enforce ILP protocols with all modalities intact.

The process of setting up the commission must be completed within six months with constant consultation with the affected parties to have a joint or collaborative effort for a sustainable project.

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