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First track

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August 08

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ittle Anshuman, a student of class five, kept his ear close to the rail track in a bid to catch an ‘unknown’ noise amid sounds of approaching joy and celebration. He kept struck to the rail, as his ear sensed the slow rumbling in the track. But before he could understand what that sound really was, he was whisked away by a cop who by then had heard over his wireless set that it was approaching. Anshuman ran straight to the platform and soon got mingled in the crowd, which flooded the Agartala Railway Station to witness a ‘historic event’. At last the moment came – a giant rail engine, overloaded with people, finally moved into the Agartala Railway Station, opening a new chapter in Tripura’s glorious history. For the thousands of people who had turned up since early morning – the long wait was over. It was not a wait of a day; it was a wait of decades. For little Anshuman the joy was some thing beyond imagination. Holding his breathe, he shouted, “My Agartala now has a rail” – Anshuman’s joy perhaps reverberated in every one and the happiness was writ large on every face. “It is a great moment. I have no words to express my joy. In my youth, I had taken part in agitations in the demand of a railhead, now I have grown old but I am glad that our demand has been fulfilled,” said Ramendra Banik, an octogenarian. This spell of joy ahead of Kharchi Puja – a major festival of the indigenous tribes, has come at a good time. Agartala finally made it to the national rail network

STATE/TRIPURA when an engine of the Northeast Frontier Railway reached here after traversing a stretch of 68 km between Ambassa and Agartala. The train started its journey from Swapnabari, in Authamura hill ranges, amid unprecedented security cover. “Since it was a trial run so we drove the engine very slowly. We did not face any problem on the way but we stopped at all stations as crowds gathered everywhere to get a glimpse of the engine. I have never seen such enthusiasm before,” said Narayan Dutta, one of the drivers of the engine. While Narayan was talking to reporters, the other members of his crew – driver Sudhanshu Kumar Das and assistants Nabendu Bhattacharjee and Chandan Majumder – got into a huddle with other railway staff members to celebrate the day. Agartala has become the second state capital in the Northeast after Guwahati to have a railhead. Trains first reached Tripura in 1964 when the railway was extended from Southern Assam to the North Tripura town of Dharmanagar. Later it was extended further to Kumarghat. But then, it took 40 years to get the railhead to Agartala. Long sustained tribal insurgency in the state has a lot to do with it. The impetus grew more in the Manmohan Singh led UPA government at the Centre with nagging pressure from the state government. Chief Minister Manik Sarkar had been the most vocal about it. This project was a herculean challenge for the Northeast Frontier Railway. The ‘human cost’ of this project was enormous. As

Debiprasad Bhowmik

DEVELOPMENT

People cheer as the train makes its first chug.

many as 36 people – attached to this project - died in nearly 28 militant attacks during work. The rebels kidnapped a total of 67 people connected to this rail project and only 19 were freed after huge ransoms were paid to the ultras. “It was a big challenge and at times, it was difficult but we had only one mission – to bring the rail up to Agartala and we did it because we got all-round support,” said F.S. Meena, Deputy Chief Engineer, the Northeast Frontier Railways (Construction). The 109-km rail link between Kumarghat, in North Tripura district bordering Assam, and Agartala was sanctioned in 1997 by the then HD Dave Gowda government. The rough terrain and the threat of militant attack had forced the NFR to carry out the work of laying the tracks at snail pace. Moreover, big tunnels had to be cut through the Atharamura

and Baramura hill ranges, which separate Agartala from Ambassa. Now that the engine trial has been successful, soon the Railway Safety and Security Board will visit the state and a goods train trial will be done. Once the Railway Safety and Security Board gives final clearance, passenger service will begin. The NFR is eyeing the auspicious day of 15th August to start passenger service. Meanwhile, the Agartala- Sabroom rail link project has been sanctioned. The 110 km Agartala - Sabroom line work would begin by January 2009. The Tripura government is trying to push the Centre to begin Agartala–Dhaka and Sabroom–Chittagong rail service. Experts here feel that if Agartala is linked to Bangladesh via rail, the Northeast can very easily access the Southeast Asian markets through the Chittagong port. Ratnadeep Choudhury August 08

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