Breakthrough in tunnelling on Sevoke – Rangpo railway route

SANJAY AGARWAL, EOI, RANGPO, OCTOBER 20, 2022: A breakthrough has been achieved in the construction of Tunnel 9 on the Sevoke – Rangpo railway project at Bhalukhola on the West Bengal side, Project Director Mohinder Singh said on Thursday. The third tunnel in the construction of which the breakthrough was achieve on Thursday was the shortest tunnel in the 45-km span of the total project, 542 metres long.

Breakthroughs were achieved in the construction of Tunnel 1 and Tunnel 5 in February 2022 and June 2022 respectively. The total project would consist of 14 tunnels. With the completion of foundation work of all the 14 tunnels, 58 percent of the total work relating to tunnels on the project had now been completed. 

A vision of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, the Sevoke to Sikkim railway link is a prestigious project of IRCON (Indian Railway Construction Limited), connecting Sikkim with the national railway grid. The Centre has decided to attach priority in developing a railway link in Sikkim to bolster defence on the China border, at a time when China is developing railway links in the Tibet plateau ina frenetic pace and bringing them right up to the border with India tosuit the needs of the Chinese military. 

The deplorable condition of the only road link of Sikkim with the mainland, National Highway 10,which often turns impassable in the rainy season, has also made the development of a railway link necessary.