The Bairabi-Sairang rail road project being built just a few kilometres away from Mizoram capital Aizawl will be delayed by nearly a year, authorities said. The delay is following the collapse of the steel girder of the railway bridge between Bairabi and Sairang on August 23. The incident had led to the death of 23 construction workers.
The 4-member Committee constituted by the Railways to probe the incident, has in the meantime submitted its report to the Ministry of Railways.
According to Northeast Frontier Railway officials who are yet to access the report, the delay would be because the steel girders will have to be manufactured outside Mizoram and again transported back to the site.
The railway authorities are also concerned that the pillars holding the Bridge Number 196 at Zero Point near the Sairang village (where the steel girder collapsed) too must have suffered damages. Therefore, the project cleared at a cost of Rs 6,547 crore would be delayed with cost escalation.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi had laid the foundation of the Bairabi, near Assam’s Hailakandi district, and Sairang, 20-km from Aizawl, railroad project on November 29, 2014 and is to be commissioned by February, 2024.
The 52 km railway project, with 55 major bridges, 87 small bridges and 32 tunnels (total length of the tunnels is about 12.63 km) with the longest tunnel of 1.88 km in length, would have four stations — Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkang and the terminal station at Sairang.
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