Centre halts Jorhat-Sivasagar railway project worth Rs 1,832 crore allegedly due to sitting MP's ignorance

The Central Government has reportedly suspended the Jorhat-Sivasagar railway project, valued at Rs 1,832 crore, due to alleged ignorance of sitting MPs of Upper Assam. 

The halted railway project, proposed in the 2017-18 Rail Budget, was aimed at connecting Jorhat and Sivasagar districts with over a 62km line. 

It may be recalled that in the Rail Budget for 2017-18, an ambitious project to establish a 62 km long railway line connecting Jorhat and Sivasagar districts was taken up. 

The proposed railway line between Jorhat and Sivasagar was also expected to commercially benefit the people of several districts of Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. 

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On the other hand, for the people of many remote villages of Jorhat and Sivasagar districts, this railway line would have improved connectivity and benefited many farmers of Upper Assam. 

In all, an expenditure of Rs 1832 crore was earmarked in the rail budget for this project which is proposed to change the face of Upper Assam.

After this, the Railway Department started the survey work at a fast pace and in just less than two years, the survey work of the railway tracks was completed. 

When contacted today, an official of the Northeast Frontier Railway in anonymity said, "The Jorhat-Sivsagar railway project has been kept on hold. We could not find out the report if it would be revived or just kept on hold."

But what is surprising is that at a meeting of the Railway Board on October 31, 2022, it was agreed upon that the railway department would not benefit economically from this proposed railway line between Jorhat and Sivasagar, hence the construction of this railway line was suspended through a letter dated 2022/W-I/NFR/NL/Sivasagar-Jorhat number.