An influential women’s group in Assam has opposed the Railway Ministry’s proposal for an alternative to a hill railway system that suffered extensive damage because of heavy rainfall and landslides in April.
The Ministry had on June 1 sanctioned ₹43.23 crore for the final locational survey of the 208 km Lanka-Silchar rail route via Chandranathpur. The survey was fast-tracked after the 180 km Silchar-Lumding track was damaged at 58 places, cutting off southern Assam’s Barak Valley, parts of Manipur, Mizoram and Tripura since May 14.
Silchar is the headquarter of Cachar district and the nerve-centre of Barak Valley, while Lumding and Lanka are towns in central Assam’s Hojai district. The Silchar-Lumding line snakes through the Dimasa community-dominated Dima Hasao district.
