Railway lines to be constructed along border: Gohain

The government on Wednesday said the Ministry of Defence has 'initiated the proposal' to construct railway lines along the country's borders with China, Nepal and Pakistan.

"The proposal for construction of Railway lines along China, Nepal and Pakistan borders has been initiated by Ministry of Defence as a strategic line," Minister of State for Railways Rajen Gohain said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha.

"A total of 14 strategic lines have been identified, out of which four strategic lines -- 378-km-long Missamari-Tenga-Tawang, 498-km-long Bilaspur-Manali-Leh, 227-km-long Pasighat-Tezu-Rupai and 249-km-long North Lakhimpur-Bame (Along-Silapathar) have been decided to be taken up in first phase."

The Minister clarified that none of these projects has been sanctioned yet.

"Since all these projects pass through very difficult terrains of young Himalayas, stability, geology, constructability, maintainability and safety issues are to be examined," Gohain elaborated.

"Accordingly, final location survey (FLS) has been taken at a cost of Rs 345 crore," Gohain said, adding: "For the year 2016-17, Ministry of Defence has provided Rs 87.18 crore."

--IANS

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