A human chain was held demanding installation of "railline and sleeper" at Chilmari

Habibur Rahman

Despite repeatedly exceeding the deadline, the railway renovation work from Ulipur in Kurigram to Ramna railway station in Chilmari has not been completed. Aggrieved commuters and local residents have human chained "Ramana Railway Station" protesting the extreme slowness of work, irregularities and lack of supervision. The human chain was held under the banner of the People's Committee for Rail-Naval Communication and Environmental Development on Monday (May 4th) afternoon. According to sources related to the project, the scheduled time for the start of the railway renovation work of about 10 kilometers was November 2023. Initially, the goal of completion of the work was January 2025, but it was not possible in the stipulated time. Later the duration of the project was extended till June 2025 and lastly until December 2025. But despite the increase of time, there is no visible progress of the work, the locals complain. It has been seen on the ground that sufficient ballast (stone) has not been put in different parts of the railway line and the old and dangerous sippers are still there. As the track strengthening work is incomplete, the speed of trains is limited to 15 to 20 kilometers per hour to avoid the risk of accidents. It is said that the suffering of common passengers has increased manifold.
The speakers in the human chain expressed their anger and said that the project has been delayed due to negligence of the contractor, poor quality of work and lack of supervision. Even though the government spends a lot of money on it, the common people are not getting any benefit. In the last few years, there have been several train derailments on this route, but the concerned authorities have not taken any effective action, he said. Nahid Hasan Knowlez, former central president of Rail-Naval Communication and Environment Development People's Committee, Abu Saeed Hossain Pakhi, Joint Convenor of Upazila BNP, Abu Hanifa, Member Secretary of Upazila Krishak Dal, Sohanur Rahman, Member Secretary of Ramna Union Committee and many others spoke.
The speakers in the human chain said that the demand for stone pelting on the railway line, replacement of sippers and strengthening of the track has been made. They also demanded modernization of Ramna railway station and increase in the number of trains on this route. If the claim is not met,The agitators warned of strict action. According to local commuters, the travel time and cost are both increasing for them due to slow train movement. Students, employees and businessmen are suffering the most, they said.
In this regard, Lalmonirhat Divisional Railway Manager,Mohammad Taslim Ahmed Khan's mobile phone was called several times but he did not receive the call.