‘Railways to restart construction of Kaliyaganj-Buniadpur link track soon’

Raiganj: At last, the Railway authorities have decided to restart the construction of a new link Railway track between Kaliyaganj of North Dinajpur and Buniadpur of South Dinajpur district which was previously approved by Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee in the capacity of Railway minister. Md. Tanveer Khan, Joint Director of Gati Shakti Railway Board on February 29, wrote a letter to the General Manager of Northern Frontier Railway Maligaon in Guwahati mentioning that the Railway Board had decided to restart the track construction work. He has been told to restart this project.

The residents of both North and South Dinajpur districts expressed happiness over this announcement. They have further demanded the resumption of service of the Delhi-bound train which has remained suspended for the last three years.

In 2010, Mamata Banerjee in the capacity of Railway minister, had approved the construction of 33.13-km-long Kaliyaganj-Buniadpur link Railway track. The following year, the land acquisition process had started. However, in the face of land acquisition difficulties this project remained suspended for more than nine years. Residents of both the Dinajpur districts organised a movement demanding the restart of the track construction work. Sunil Saha, president of Kaliyaganj-Buniadpur Rail Rupayan and Unnayan Committee, said: “We are happy with the decision of the Railway board. We have a report that the farmers are now ready to provide land for

the purpose.”

Sandip Biswas, chairperson of the board of administrators of Raiganj Municipality, said: “In the face of elections, it is a mere assurance of the Railway authorities. Our Delhi-bound train from Radhikapur has remained cancelled for around three years. They should restart this train considering the difficulties of the passengers.”