Rail connectivity reached Rowghat in Kanker district in Chhattisgarh’s Bastar for the first time since Independence on Tuesday, with the opening of the Tadoki-Rowghat railway section. Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai inaugurated the new section and the Abhanpur-Kurud broad-gauge line, and flagged off passenger train services on both routes to improve connectivity and access to essential services.
Sai flagged off the trains connecting Rowghat with Raipur and Raipur with Kurud at a programme held at Raipur railway station. Railway minister Ashwini Vaishnaw joined the event virtually from New Delhi. “The arrival of rail connectivity in Rowghat is not merely an expansion of the railway network.
It is an important step towards connecting the remote areas of Bastar and southern Chhattisgarh with new opportunities for development,” Sai said. He said the new rail link would improve access to education, healthcare, employment, trade and transport facilities in the region.
“Railway infrastructure in Chhattisgarh is witnessing unprecedented expansion under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi. Sai also laid the foundation stone for an electric locomotive maintenance facility in Raipur. The facility will have the capacity to maintain 300 high-horsepower electric locomotives, according to the state government.
The double-engine government is committed to extending modern transport facilities to the state’s remote and tribal areas,” Sai said. The minister said the Centre was working to connect areas that had remained outside the railway network for decades. “Chief minister Vishnu Deo Sai has decided that land acquisition for the Rowghat-Jagdalpur railway line will be taken up on priority,” Vaishnaw said.
