Union Railways Minister Suresh Prabhakar Prabhu laid the foundation stone of station building at Tupul, at Safety Tunnel, longest tunnel No.12 and commencement of work at portal No.2 in a function held at 1st Manipur Rifles parade ground, Imphal.
Prabhu in his speech said that to provide railway connectivity to North East is a commitment and not a favour. He said that infrastructure creation in the North East is being done with the provision of more budget allocation for N-E.
The construction works of the tallest railway bridge of the world has already been started and being targeted to be completed by March 2018, he added. He said, preliminary survey of Imphal-Moreh railway project had already been conducted in 2014.
Saying that North East has immense potential for tourism which can generate large number of jobs, a comprehensive tourist plan for North East is being worked out.
Prabhu said, the NDA government at the Centre under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working on a strategic plan for the development of railways in the country and the North-East will be given top priority in this mission.
Speaking on the function, the chief guest of the function Najma A. Heptulla said that the Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway project which is a national project is of utmost importance which is aimed at providing an alternative means of communication through difficult and inaccessible terrain to the people of Manipur and a reliable means for transport of essential commodities. With the coming of railway connectivity there will be a sea change in the connectivity scenario of Manipur and in the economic spheres, she said appealing not to disturb in the execution of works for developmental projects.
Chief Minister O. Ibobi Singh speaking in the function recalled that the foundation of the railway project was laid by former Prime Minister Manmohan Singh way back in 2004 and due to many reasons the completion of the project has been extended till now.
Taking the advantage of the presence of two Union Ministers in the function, he appealed that the Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway project be extended upto Moreh, RIMS be upgraded to the status of AIIMS and the works for the National Sports University must be started.
The function was attended by Union HRD Minister Prakash Javadekar, Dy. CM Gakhangam, Transport Minister Kh. Ratankumar, Revenue & Forest Minister I. Hemochandra, Union MOS (Railways) Rajen Gohain, Members of Parliament T. Meinya and Thangso Baite and MLAs W. Brajabidhu and Kh. Devendra among others.
Source: Imphal Free Press
