Forest and Wildlife clearance from West Bengal and handing over of land by Sikkim govt is still pending for the Sivok-Rango new line project, Minister for Railways told Lok Sabha in a response to a query.
The 44.96 km Sivok-Rangpo new line project connects West Bengal and Sikkim. 41.55 km of the line is in WB territory while 3.41 km is in Sikkim. The project was sanctioned in the Railway Budget of 2008-09.
Originally targeted for completion in 2015, the current estimated date for completion is March 2023.
The latest anticipated cost of the project is 4,085 crores. Rs. 607 crores have been sanctioned for the financial year 2020-21 for the project, the minister’s reply added.
Out of 14 tunnels (around 39 km long), works have been taken up on 12 tunnels and progress of around 2.50 km has been achieved. The State Government of West Bengal is yet to shift 26 nos. structures from proposed Melli yard site and 4 nos. structures from Riyang yard site for which full amount of compensation as demanded by State Government has been deposited in October 2014, the minister’s reply admitted.