HT Correspondent
TEZPUR, Feb 11: The delegate team of the Committee for Revival of Tezpur Railway Station (CRTRS), led by MP Birendra Prasad Baishya, recently met Union Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw at Rail Bhawan, New Delhi, and submitted a memorandum highlighting the sufferings faced by the people commuting to Dekargaon Station. The memorandum emphasised the cost and time involved due to the stalling of the hundred-year-old train service facility for the people of Tezpur town since 2011, attributed to the non-conversion of the 8 km long broad gauge line from Dekergaon to Tezpur.
Highlighting the memorandum in a press note, the CRTRS mentioned that the discontinuation of broad gauge conversion from Dekargaon Station to Tezpur was due to opposition from some sections of people in the interest of widening road connectivity to Tezpur town and establishing an Inter-State Bus Terminus (ISBT) at the railway station, which is no longer required due to the establishment of ISBT at Dhanuanager as per the Tezpur Master Plan (2010-2030). Moreover, the Committee emphasised that the growth of Tezpur town itself was due to the establishment of this station in 1895 for the commercial outlay of tea for mercantile marine through the river Brahmaputra. The withdrawal of train service gravely affects the vibrancy of the town, and the loss of train service facilities seriously affects the poor and downtrodden sections of people, bearing high costs in road transport with no alternative at hand.
Further, the press note said that the committee, from various deliberations with the officers of the Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR), came to understand that the revival and gauge conversion of Tezpur Railway Station will align with the present infrastructural marvels of Indian Railways and may result in the construction of super flyovers along the track, thereby brushing aside common apprehensions of high traffic jams and possible factors of accidents.
In its memorandum, the committee prioritised the introduction of intercity train facilities from Tezpur town, which will keep the whole track free from traffic congestion as it will run early in the morning and late in the evening.
Also, the committee expressed its heartfelt gratitude to Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma for approving its proposal for the revival of Tezpur Railway Station and for his wholehearted support to CRTRS, along with MPs Birendra Prasad Baishya, Pallab Lochan Das, Dilip Saikia, and MLA Tezpur Prithiraj Rabha for their wholehearted support and cooperation in taking necessary steps with the concerned departments for an early revival of Tezpur Railway Station.
