Barak valley on broad gauge map, BG train enters Silchar

Special Correspondent

Silchar, March 14: After long wait of 17 years and the cries of the people of Barak Valley for the completion of Silchar – Lumding BG, at last the dream came true with the lone BG engine touching the platform of Silchar railway station at 8:15 pm last night. The mammoth assembly of more than 20,000 people of all ages from old, middle aged, young and even children along with their parents as well as women in large number welcomed the arrival of BG engine with tumultuous reception. They were all emotiolly surcharged as if a new dawn of communication network for the landlocked southern region has opened.

  So overjoyed were the youths that the very sight of engine at the home sigl led them to burst crackers and the entire premises around the station was lit brilliantly with the fireworks of all hues. Women too joined the rapture by performing the traditiol ‘dhamail dance’, conveying their long felt happiness at the historic moment, a day to remember. Blowing its whistle intermittently, the engine, profusely garlanded and overcrowded with the overenthusiastic riders made its way slowly as if to respond to the standing ovation.

  In order to record the historic moment, shutterbugs along with countless mobile users clicked series of photographs to share the glimpse of what they saw along with their family members who missed it. photo jourlists of the media, print and electronic, jostled with the crowd from their own vintage grounds to capture the memorable night and make it on the front page of the newspapers or the tell-tale of the headlines of the electronic channels. The road over-bridge, a few metres away from the platform, was teeming with curious people to have a better view of the welcome to BG.

  Quite significantly, saffron brigades had taken control of the engine at Badarpur junction as if all that had happened was due to the commitment and assurance of Prime Minister rendra Modi to ensure that no more delay was done and the BG was completed by 2015. But, the completion by March as the first passenger train would chug out from the station by the end of the month took the people of Barak Valley by surprise. rendra Modi had kept his words and so the air in and around the Silchar station rent it with the frequent slogans of ‘rendra Modi jindabad’. There were however counter claims by Congress whose supporters in their own way shouted in chorus to give credit to their leader Santosh Mohan Dev.

  Worth mentioning, the British completed the Silchar – Lumding MG in just 14 years while with all the advantages of science and technology the rulers in Delhi took long 17 years for laying down of BG. During the Congress regime, total uncertainty loomed large due to rampant corruptions. With the installation of NDA Government led by rendra Modi, a round the clock monitoring of works and total transparency in execution made it possible to complete the BG well before the scheduled time. Quite turally, BJP leaders and workers took the opportunity to go for high praise for Modi Government and in particular the Prime Minister.

  It is to be noted that in contrast to the 37 tunnels and 586 bridges, major and minor, on the British made MG, BG has 21 tunnels and 437 bridges, major and minor. Important stations on the route are Lumding, Maibong, Mahur, New Haflong, Badarpur and Silchar. Driver of BG engine, A K Ram, loco pilot and assistant loco pilot, N C Dey and Joydeep Das and loco inspector, Subir Das, who drove the engine all the way from Lumding were felicitated by the railway staff. The extension of BG to Silchar will no doubt open a new vista of communication as this station will be the focal point for taking the rail route to Imphal and Aizawl, capitals of Manipur and Mizoram. Works on BG tracks for both the capitals are going on speedily.