Mamata to revive Sikkim rail link, but doubts remain

Taking a leaf from China's rapid infrastructure development along India's north-east (or China's south-west) border along with increased Chinese military presence, India has decided to fast-track the revival of a hill train from Sevok in West Bengal to Rangpo in Sikkim. Union railway minister and Trinamool Congress leader Mamata Banerjee laid the foundation stone for the project in Sikkim's capital of Siliguri on Friday.

The link will connect the small north-eastern state with the rest of the country. It will connect West Bengal's border town of Sevok to Sikkim's township of Rangpo in the first phase - a distance of 52.7 km.

Officials said the broad-gauge line project would start soon, as the land survey has already been conducted for the first phase. It is as expected to be completed by 2015-2016.

The first phase of re-developing the rail link will cost around Rs1,339 core. The railways will foot 75 per cent of the cost through its gross budgetary support and the remaining 25 per cent will come from the finance ministry.

Besides being a "jewel" in the Northeast Frontier Railway "crown", the track would be a "lifeline" to Sikkim, Banerjee said. The Himalayan state currently depends on National Highway 31A, a landslide-prone, risky and narrow road, for its connectivity to the rest of the country.

Under the ambitious scheme, the Railways plans to later connect Rangpo to state capital Gangtok, which would be taken up after the first phase. The survey for further extension up to Gangtok (69 km) has also been completed and the survey report is being examined by the ministry.
 
The project has strategic significance since China has built several road, air and rail facilities in the Tibet Autonomous Region, which allows it to rapidly amass troops on the border. India, in contrast, has been slow to wake up to this security challenge.