The strategic importance of Tanakpur-Bageshwar rail connectivity whose proposal harked back to the British regime has grown over the years with China developing high-tech railway network along the Himalayan terrain bordering Uttarakhand’s Kumaon region.
However, the Government of India has ignored it while presenting the railway budget on Thursday. Contrary to what others think, the implementation of the same is rather as easy as any other hill rail projects being carried out in high altitude Himalayan region, the experts here maintain.
Alive to its importance, the British rulers had embarked on the survey of this project between Tanakpur and Bageshwar even before the World War-I broke out. It cannot be said either that the project, if implemented would prove damaging from the geographical or natural disaster standpoint, as the members of ‘Bageshwar- Tanakpur Rail Marg Sangharh Samiti’ and geologists here suggested.
Unlike some other motorable routes in the higher reaches of the State that remain vulnerable to the vagaries of nature, particularly during the rainy season, Tanakpur- Bageshwar stretch is technically strong enough, they maintain. Bageshwar- Tanakpur rail project is about 137 km in length out of which about 67 km tracks will go parallel to Mahakali river that marks the international border with Nepal, the experts say.
The refrain running deep in the region is that the successive Governments are taking the people for a ride over the years regarding the project.The project is turning more and more relevant over the years, given India’s growing socio-economic as well as strategic interests in this region that borders Nepal and China.
The rail project being ignored for years is a saga of politicians rolling out false assurances, alleged Prem Belwal, a professional based here. They are milking the matter electorally. However, when it comes to put things on the ground they keep on befooling the people, he added.
The experts are of the opinion that the project being implemented would boost economic stability through better connectivity. Things are important against the backdrop of surface road connectivity remaining in tatters in the higher reaches of the State.
However, when asked to comment on the people resenting the project being ignored, Anil Baluni, BJP’s national spokesperson, said that the Government has sought to strengthen the existing rail networks and basic infrastructure in this year’s Rail Budget. But, in future, the Government of India would definitely look into the rail project Uttarakhand has been eagerly waiting for, he added.