The Bogra-Sirajganj railway project has seen a ray of hope as about 944 acres of land will be acquired in the two districts next year.
After that, the construction of a dual gauge rail line from Bogra to Shaheed M Mansoor Ali railway station in Sirajganj will get underway in earnest.
A preparatory meeting for the submission of the land acquisition proposal was held at the Bogra District Commissioner's conference room on Monday. Bogra Deputy Commissioner Ziaul Haque presided over the meeting.
Additional Deputy Commissioner (Revenue) Ujjal Kumar Ghosh and Land Acquisition Officer Amir Salman Roni, among others, spoke at the meeting. Advisor Maksudur Rahman Patwary, Project Director Monirul Islam Ferozi and representatives of Indian consultancy firms were present.
A proposal was submitted at the meeting on acquisition of land for the dual gauge rail line construction project from Bogra to Shaheed M Mansoor Ali railway station in Sirajganj. The proposal spoke of acquiring altogether 944 acres of land in two districts. Of this, 480 acres of land will be acquired in Bogra and 464 acres in Sirajganj.
Necessary funds will be allocated in the next financial year for land acquisition. Tenders will be invited after all the processes of the project have been finalised.
Already, Tk190 crores have been allocated to this project in the current financial year.
According to Bogra-Sirajganj dual gauge railway construction project sources, the main route of the Bogra-Sirajganj railway construction project will be 72 km. The route will be from Bogra to Shaheed M Mansoor Ali station in Sirajganj. The length of another rail line route will be 12km. This route will be from Kahalu Station in Bogra to Ranirhat.
The possible cost for the whole project has been estimated to be around Tk5,500 crore.
Junction stations will be constructed at Kahalu upazila of Bogra, city station and Ranirhat of Shajahanpur Upazila. Bogra-Sirajganj railway will be completed if these three junction stations are constructed.
Apart from the three junctions, seven stations — Bogra's Ranirhat, Aria Bazar, Sherpur, Chandaikona and Sirajganj's Raigonj, Krishandia and Sadanandapur — will be set up.
Project director Monirul Islam Ferozi told reporters that if the Bogra-Sirajganj railway is constructed, the distance between the northern districts and Dhaka will be reduced by about 112km.
A rough design has been designed for this project, he added.
He hoped that the railway construction work would start after completion of the land acquisition and tender formalities.
Earlier, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina promised to build the Bogra-Sirajganj railway while addressing a public meeting in Bogra in 2011. When the premier visited Bogra in 2015, she ordered the construction of the railway. In 2017, initiatives were taken to implement India's third line of credit loan scheme. Later, the project was approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in 2018.