The issue of rampant and illegal encroachment of Railway land is not an immediate one and RCUN has been pursuing this matter with the appropriate authorities since many years. Reference may be made of our letter to the then Deputy Commissioner of Dimapur, No. RCUN/DMP/DC/2020-01 dated 22nd of May 2020 wherein we had requested the District Authorities to take up the matter of unauthorized encroachment and construction on Railway Land.
However, the district authorities never handled the matter in a judicious and fast track manner. The result is that over the years, many illegal constructions including numerous temples have been built within the periphery of the Dimapur Railway Station thus obstructing the expansion and development.
In the manner in which things are unfolding at present, the RCUN would like to question both the State Government as well as the NFR on the following valid points.
1. Though the issue of illegal encroachment has been published and brought to the notice of the competent authorities, why is the State Government maintaining its silence over the matter? Can it be construed as ism based politics whereby all developmental projects are diverted to either Kohima or Chumukedima? Being a people’s government, the State Government should carry out its responsibility without any tribal or regional bias.
The State Government should immediately take up the matter in hand and act with a stern hand to release all the Railway Land from illegal encroachments. Otherwise, it may very well be presumed that the State Government does not have any political will to let one of the oldest Railway Stations to develop as per the needs and aspirations of the people.
2. The State Government should immediately set up a SIT to conduct an investigation in the matter of rampant encroachment and the officials involved in this corruption must be booked and penalized as per the provisions of law.
3. Why did the NFR not take up the matter of encroachment at the early stage itself instead of waiting so long for it to unfold? The very fact that NFR was not serious about this matter from the very beginning shows its lack of serious concern for the development of Dimapur Railway Station. The Railway Department has enough personnel of the RPF and the GRP to deal with such situations but they had been sleeping over this serious matter for reasons known best to them.
Is it because, they are hand in gloves with the State Government whereby they are giving such silly excuses for not developing the Dimapur Railway Station and diverting the Railway Projects to either Zubza or Chumukedima? Such nefarious tactics of NFR are quite blatant in the manner in which two trains originating from Dimapur viz. the Nagaland Express and the Jan Shatabdi were hijacked to Ledo and Jorhat respectively right under the nose of the State Government under some or the other pretext.
4. Whereas, the very fact remains that Dimapur Railway Station is the major rail head of Nagaland and Manipur and it is the highest Rail Per-Capita Revenue earning Railway Station under the North Frontier Railways (NFR) in the entire North-Eastern Region. At present Dimapur Railway Station is the sole Railway Station for Nagaland and, though it has rich potentials of growth and expansion, the North Frontier Railways (NFR) has always meted a step-motherly treatment to Dimapur.
Now that the State Government has plans for setting up other Railway Stations at Chumukedima and Zubza, we can very well apprehend that the plans of expansion and upgradation of the Dimapur Railway Station will always remain a distant dream as such plans will also be hijacked in favour of the other newer and less significant Railway Stations. Therefore, the excuse given by the NFR of illegal encroachment being the sole reason for not developing the Railway Station is full of malice and highly questionable. The public cannot be fooled by such excuses as they know very well that trains being hijacked to other stations cannot be attributed to land encroachments.
5. Another pertinent question is regarding the indifferent attitude of the VVIPs towards the issue of upgradation of Dimapur Railway Station. Is it because they are so habituated in travelling by Air that they have lost the common touch? We must not forget that the Railway is the cheapest and the safest mode of travel for most of the people, especially for families, students, traders, commuters, etc. Therefore everyone must support in the endeavour of its development instead of being passive about it.
The RCUN would therefore call upon every right thinking citizen as well as civil organizations, student bodies and other NGOs to rise up against such diversionary and dubious tactics of the State Government and the NFR so that the Dimapur Railway Station does not get hijacked like the trains and the Dimapur Airport to other districts.
Media Cell
Railway Contractors Union Nagaland