Notices have been issued by the Gauhati High Court to Indian Railway authorities for allegedly not adhering to security pointers whereas setting up a broad-gauge railway line from Lumding to Silchar within the state of Assam. Hearing a PIL filed by the All Barak Youth Students Association, a division bench comprising Chief Justice (Acting) N Kotiswar Singh in addition to Justice Soumitra Saikia just lately gave 4 weeks’ time to the Ministry of Railways, Railway Board and the Northeast Frontier Railway zone– to answer to the notices, a PTI report stated. The petition talked about that work on the conversion of metre-gauge to broad-gauge line to attach with Barak Valley, Tripura, Manipur, and Mizoram was sanctioned in 1996-97, and it was declared a nationwide venture within the yr 2004. From 21 November 2015, passenger trains have been began on the broad-gauge observe.
As per the PIL, throughout the course of the conversion work, the principal director of audit in his Theme Based Audit Report, had warned the authorities of Indian Railways that development work commenced with out satisfactory geo-technical investigation. The petition, citing the report stated the venture shall be derailed due to defective planning in addition to failure to visualise the soil strata behaviour on the a part of the nationwide transporter.
Besides, the PIL additionally stated that the CRS in its report had indicated a sequence of main loopholes. The Commissioner of Railway Safety had prompt the Indian Railways administration to interact consultants within the subject of geo-technology to evaluate the standing critically and counsel appropriate preventive measures, it stated. The PIL alleged that the authorities of Indian Railways, nonetheless, went forward with out rectifying severe defects despite the unfavorable views within the skilled report.
Earlier this yr, huge landslides, mudslides and heavy rain wreaked havoc in Dima Hasao, which is located between Lumding and Silchar, and all its communication channels have been affected. The solely railway hyperlink connecting the district of Dima Hasao and Barak Valley, Manipur, Mizoram, and Tripura with the remainder of India was washed away as nicely. The folks of Dima Hasao and south Assam are paying the worth for non-compliance with the CRS report, the PIL additional stated.
Source: www.financialexpress.com”