Imphal-Jiribam railway project on the verge of completion — Dr. RK Ranjan Singh

World’s tallest bridge pier under construction in Manipur

Our Correspondent

Sangaithel, Aug. 18 (EMN): The Union minister of state for external affairs and education Dr. RK Ranjan Singh said that the tunnelling work of a 111 km Imphal-Jiribam railway project in Manipur is almost completed.

Dr. Ranjan Singh was speaking to reporters after the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) construction team achieved a ‘breakthrough blast’ to mark the successful completion of excavation work for a safety tunnel of the main tunnel for a continuous length of 7.4 km on Thursday.

In tunnelling construction, ‘breakthrough blast’ means meeting of two faces of tunnels which are excavated from different directions in hilly terrain wherein the construction works covers nearly 63 km out of its total railway line.

He appealed the business community in Manipur to take the opportunity of using goods trains in transporting supplies from Guwahati to Manipur.

The main tunnel which connects the Imphal valley from its hill section at Saheibung village area, 25 km west of Imphal under Kangpokpi district, is at its most critical stage for completion of the Tupul-Imphal railway line section. This main tunnel, which passes through the most complex geological and other hindrances, has a total length of 10.27 km and it is the longest among 52 tunnels along the ambitious Imphal-Jiribam railway project which is set to be completed by December next year.

Interestingly, a safety tunnel having a length of 8.3km which runs parallel to the main tunnel at a distance of 50 metres is completed. Safety tunnel is used for evacuation of passengers in case of any emergencies in the main tunnel. Hence, the breakthrough will assist in easy access to the work sites for completing the remaining portion of the tunnel, said an official.

The attendant challenges are being tackled on a daily basis through strict 3D monitoring and proactive application of desired tunnel support systems in accordance with the new Austrian tunnelling method.

“Railways has taken up tunnelling work in a big way with successful completion of high altitude and mountainous tunnels in Jiribam-Imphal new broad gauge line project and 48 number of tunnels of the project in a length of about 60.09 km have already been completed/excavated,” an official said.

The Imphal-Jiribam railway project will have 11 stations covering five districts of Manipur from Jiribam to Imphal with the broad gauge network of the country.