Guwahati: The Indian Railways has built a pier taller than the Qutub Minar as part of its project to connect Mizoram’s capital Aizawl to the country’s railway network.

The 104-metre-high pier, which is 42 metres higher than the Qutub Minar, a Mughal-era monument, was built for the 51.38 km long new broad-gauge railway line that will connect Bhairabi to Sairang, a town near Aizawl. Rail service is currently limited to Bhairabi on the Assam-Mizoram border.

“The construction of Bhairabi – Sairang railway project involves several tunnels and bridges on difficult terrain. The total length of tunnels in this project is 12,853 metres. The project will have a total of 55 major and 89 minor bridges. The work on construction of the highest pillar of the project, namely pillar P-4 of bridge no. 196 on the approach to Sairang railway station, has also been completed. The height of this pillar is 104 metres, which is 42 metres higher than the Qutub Minar. There will be four railway stations: Hortoki, Kawnpui, Mualkhang and Sairang,” said a statement from the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) headquarters at Maligaon in Guwahati.

The Bhairabi-Sairang railway line received approval from the central government in 2008-09 and is expected to become operational in July 2025. The timing and budget for commissioning the project have been revised several times.

The 16.72 km new line between Bhairabi and Hortoki has already been completed and received the Railway Safety Commissioner’s approval for the operation of freight and passenger trains on August 22.

“Once completed, the new Bhairabi-Sairang railway project will provide better connectivity to the people of Mizoram, promote growth of small-scale industries in the region and boost tourism in the state. This project will ensure significant reduction in cost of transporting passengers and various materials and goods to this mountainous state to meet the needs of the local population. Travel time between the capital city of Mizoram and nearby places in Assam will reduce considerably. People of the region will get long-distance connectivity across the country and uninterrupted supply of essential commodities,” said the statement issued by Kapinjal Kishore Sharma, Chief Public Relations Officer, NFR.