In one of the biggest surprises for this year since Sonia Gandhi’s hushed stopover in April in Dimapur, Union Minister for Railways Dinesh Trividi is to arrive in the city, Sunday, September 11 with no one less significant than the chairman of the Railway Board of India himself Vinay Mittal.
The visit, surprising even the government of Nagaland, is part of Union Minister Trividi’s itinerary “to assess the requirement of railways” to several states in the North East Region, a government leader informed today. The visit is even more significant considering the Union Minister has in his entourage the Railway Board chairman himself, nine railway officials from Delhi, two general managers of the North East Frontier Railways (NEFR), 14 officials from Guwahati and five from Lumding, Assam.
Top officials accompanying Dinesh Trivedi; to meet CM
Chief Secretary of Nagaland Lalthara disclosed Saturday that the Union Minister would be in Nagaland Sunday as part of the central leader’s tour to the region “to assess the requirement of railways in several states.” Trivedi is to leave Monday, the official informed.
Lalthara informed that the Union Minister and his team of officials will hold a meeting with the Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio and the state Cabinet at the Police headquarter in Chumukedima. The meeting is scheduled for 5:00 PM, Lalthara said. The government informs that the conference is the key event of the minister’s visit.
The chief reason behind the visit of the Union Minister to Nagaland remains sketchy. When queried about the principal agenda of Dinesh Trivedi’s visit, Lalthara said the point of discussion remains broad although the visit is already understood to be over issues concerning the state’s two proposed railway links.
“In fact, we don’t really know,” chief secretary Lalthara admitted, about the chief agenda. “But he is here to assess the requirement of railways in several states. We are also surprised that Nagaland is the first state (from where the minister is to embark on his tour).”
During the interaction with The Morung Express, Lalthara implied that the meeting would focus on the State’s two proposed railway links. The two are the Dimapur-Zubza-Kohima railway link and the Dimapur-Tizit railway project.
According to the state administrator, the Dimapur-Zubza-Kohima railway link has been ‘sanctioned’ but has yet to be ‘implemented.’ Matters concerning compensation rates and ‘alignment issues’ continue to plague the project. The chief secretary said the “landowners” are demanding extremely high compensation rates – a colossal Rs. 60 per square feet, much higher than the Railways’ specification of Rs. 10 per square feet. This is a major issue that is holding back the project, the chief secretary said. Negotiations, however, would continue, he said.
Further, a related matter that the chief secretary informed was about his meeting with two general managers of the NEFR and other officials from Guwahati yesterday. The two railway officials met with the chief secretary Friday and today, Saturday, met with the chief minister, Lalthara informed. Owing to technical problems, during interaction, details about the meetings could not be elaborated at the time of filing this news report.
The chief secretary is appreciative that top officials of the railways are visiting Nagaland.
The visit, surprising even the government of Nagaland, is part of Union Minister Trividi’s itinerary “to assess the requirement of railways” to several states in the North East Region, a government leader informed today. The visit is even more significant considering the Union Minister has in his entourage the Railway Board chairman himself, nine railway officials from Delhi, two general managers of the North East Frontier Railways (NEFR), 14 officials from Guwahati and five from Lumding, Assam.
Top officials accompanying Dinesh Trivedi; to meet CM
Chief Secretary of Nagaland Lalthara disclosed Saturday that the Union Minister would be in Nagaland Sunday as part of the central leader’s tour to the region “to assess the requirement of railways in several states.” Trivedi is to leave Monday, the official informed.
Lalthara informed that the Union Minister and his team of officials will hold a meeting with the Chief Minister of Nagaland Neiphiu Rio and the state Cabinet at the Police headquarter in Chumukedima. The meeting is scheduled for 5:00 PM, Lalthara said. The government informs that the conference is the key event of the minister’s visit.
The chief reason behind the visit of the Union Minister to Nagaland remains sketchy. When queried about the principal agenda of Dinesh Trivedi’s visit, Lalthara said the point of discussion remains broad although the visit is already understood to be over issues concerning the state’s two proposed railway links.
“In fact, we don’t really know,” chief secretary Lalthara admitted, about the chief agenda. “But he is here to assess the requirement of railways in several states. We are also surprised that Nagaland is the first state (from where the minister is to embark on his tour).”
During the interaction with The Morung Express, Lalthara implied that the meeting would focus on the State’s two proposed railway links. The two are the Dimapur-Zubza-Kohima railway link and the Dimapur-Tizit railway project.
According to the state administrator, the Dimapur-Zubza-Kohima railway link has been ‘sanctioned’ but has yet to be ‘implemented.’ Matters concerning compensation rates and ‘alignment issues’ continue to plague the project. The chief secretary said the “landowners” are demanding extremely high compensation rates – a colossal Rs. 60 per square feet, much higher than the Railways’ specification of Rs. 10 per square feet. This is a major issue that is holding back the project, the chief secretary said. Negotiations, however, would continue, he said.
Further, a related matter that the chief secretary informed was about his meeting with two general managers of the NEFR and other officials from Guwahati yesterday. The two railway officials met with the chief secretary Friday and today, Saturday, met with the chief minister, Lalthara informed. Owing to technical problems, during interaction, details about the meetings could not be elaborated at the time of filing this news report.
The chief secretary is appreciative that top officials of the railways are visiting Nagaland.
