Minister of State of Railways, Coal & Mines Raosaheb Patil Danve on Tuesday inspected various project sites of the ongoing Dimapur – Kohima new BG railway line project that will connect the state capital of Nagaland. The line starts from Dhansiri station, which is about 18 km before Dimapur on main line in between Lumding and Dimapur. The new line will end at Zubza adjacent to Kohima. He inspected one station, two tunnels and a bridge along the route.
During his visits to projects sites, the MoSR was given presentation of the entire project through replica of the proposed railway line under construction from Dimapur to Kohima. He inspected the newly built Shokhuvi railway station. He inspected under construction tunnels (Tunnel No. 1 & 2) of the project and interacted with the workers engaged in tunnel construction in remote hill areas. It may be mentioned here that, there is more than 29 Km of tunnelling works in the entire project that is being constructed. Similarly, some bridges that are being constructed in this project are located at very remote sites. The MoSR inspected Bridge No. 86, one of the major bridges of the project.
Northeast Frontier Railway (Construction) Organization is executing the 82.50 Km long new railway line project at an anticipated cost of Rs. 6,648 crore. Project includes eight new stations (including Kohima), 24 major bridges, 166 minor bridges, 4 Road Over Bridges, 18 Road Under Bridges and 14 Limited Height Subways. Various technical challenges are being encountered due to the hilly terrain between Dimapur and Kohima. Team of railway engineers and construction agencies are on with the job round the clock to hasten the pace of work.
Out of total stretch, 2.75 Km are with in Assam area and the rest 79.75 Km within Nagaland. Works of the entire project is executing in three phases – Phase-I: Dhansiri – Shokhuvi (16.5 Km), Phase-II: Shokhuvi – Pherima (28.00 Km) and Phase-III: Pherima – Zubza (38.00 Km) in terms of target of completion. CRS inspection of Phase 1 has been done and authorization received in October, 21.
Works on the project is going on in full swing and expected to ready by March, 2026. Once the project is completed, it will build a new mode of connection with the capital of Nagaland to the rest of the country. The new connectivity will make goods transportation easier and will largely help in boosting the economy of Nagaland.