ECONOMIC MINERALS OF ASSAM

ASSAM is endowed with vast mineral resources. The major minerals like coal, oil and gas, limestone, dolomite, sillimanite and corundum, iron ore, felspar, glass-sand, refractory and fire clays, kaolin, beryl, gypsum, pyrite, vermiculite, salt, copper, gold etc. have been reported to occur in the state. The most important minerals being exploited so far in Assam are coal, oil and gas, limestone and sillimanite.

COAL

In Assam, coal occurs in Garo hills, Khasi and Jaintai hills, Mikir hills, Jaipur and Makum. The tertiary coals of Assam are remarkably low in ash but high in sulphur. Assam coal is being consumed at present by the railways, iron and brass foundries, brick kilns, inland water steamer services, tea gardens and other industries in addition to household consumption. Apart from its general uses, Assam coal is eminently suitable for the manufacture of coal distillation products.

OIL AND NATURAL GAS

The oil producing areas of Assam lie in the upper Assam valley and are geologically confined to the Tertiary Strata - mainly Oligocene. Assam is first state in the country where oil was struck in 1889 at Digboy. At present oil is being tapped at two areas - the Digboy and the Naharkotiya and Moran fields. Two more refineries of considerable size have come up in the public sector at Gauhati and Barauni and the third with a petrochemical complex is under way. A new refinery, Numaligarh refinery (3m. tones capacity) was commissioned on July 9, 1999. The availability of associated natural gas is dependent on the extraction of crude oil. Vast quantities of natural gas are being produced along with the production of crude oil. Only two projects under the "utilization of natural gas scheme" have so far come up in the state. These are the thermal power plant and the fertilizer factory at Namrup.

LIMESTONE
Limestone is a very common sedimentary rock of biochemical origin. It is composed mostly of the mineral calcite. Sometimes it is almost pure calcite, but most limestones are filled with lots of other minerals and sand and they are called dirty limestones. The calcite is derived mostly from the remains of organisms such as clams, brachiopods, bryozoa, crinoids and corals. These animals live on the bottom of the sea and when they die their shells accumulate into piles of shelly debris. This debris can then form beds of limestone. Some limestones may have been derived from non-biogenic calcite formation. Although some limestones can be nearly pure calcite, there is often a large amount or sand or silt that is included in the shelly debris.

The high-grade fossil limestone or 'nummulitic' limestone deposits of Assam are geologically known as 'Syket limestone' as these belong to that groups of rocks. The limestone deposits are confined in areas of Garo hills, united Khasi and Jaintia hills, Cachar hills and Mikir hills. One of the largest outcrops of limestone is at the foot of the Khasi hills. Vast deposits of high-grade limestone are best observed in the Jowai area. Lime stones of the Khasi and Jaintia hills can be used for manufacture of cement and for lime-burning purposes. It can be used in chemical industries and for metallurgical purposes. The limestone deposits of the state offer vast scope for developing innumerable industries where limestone is required.

SILLIMANITE

Sillimanite (also called Bucholzite) is a polymorph with two other minerals: kyanite and andalusite. A polymorph is a mineral that shares the same chemistry but a different crystal structure with another, or other, minerals. Sillimanite is the rarest of the three trimorphs. A variety of sillimanite is called "fibrolite". It is a common fibrous massive form.

The sillimanite deposits of the Nongstoin state in the Khasi hills are world famous from the point of view of quantity and purity of the mineral. Assam is the major producer of this mineral in India and contributes more than 90% of the total production. Corundum is found to occur in association with the sillimanite deposits. Low-grade 'quartz-sillimanite schists' also occur in the same area.

CLAY
Clay is a naturally occurring material composed primarily of fine-grained minerals, which show plasticity through a variable range of water content, and which can be hardened when dried and/or fired. Clay deposits are mostly composed of clay minerals (phyllosilicate minerals), minerals which impart plasticity and harden when fired and/or dried, and variable amounts of water trapped in the mineral structure by polar attraction. Organic materials which do not impart plasticity may also be a part of clay deposits.

Assam is endowed with fairly large reserves of sedimentary white clays as well as Kaolin or 'China clay', which forms an important basic raw material for ceramic or refractory industries. These Clays are found to occur at many places in the Garo hills, Khasi and Jaintia hills and the Mikir hills. This clay is quite suitable for the manufacture of medium to low-grade white wares and other ceramic products like stoneware pipes, sanitary ware, glazed tiles and bricks. The Kaolin deposit near Mawphlang is found to be as good as the Kaolin of corn wall.

GLASS SANDS
Glass sands are High-quartz sand used in glassmaking; contains small amounts of aluminum oxide, iron oxide, calcium oxide, and magnesium oxide. They are also called as Sand Stones.
Deposits of fine-grained, white friable sandstones has been located in the coalfields of the Laitryngew andCherapunji areas. The friable quartzite of the Shilllong series around shillong and the Tura sandstones of the Garo hills are suitable for manufacture of sheet glass and fruit glass after washing.

IRON ORE
Iron ore is a mineral substance which will yield metallic iron (Fe). It almost always consists of iron oxides, the primary forms of which are magnetite (Fe3O4) and hematite (Fe2O3). The image below shows a few specimens of iron ore. The grey metallic ore is magnetite, while the red ore is hematite. The round thing in the middle is a quarter.

Occurrence of banded-iron ore have been located in the Chanderdinga hills and Abhayapuri areas in Goalpara district and in the Aradanga-Rangchapara areas on the border of the Kamrup and Khasi and Jaintia hills districts.

Copper

Copper minerals occur in the Umpyrtha and Ranighat areas in the Khasi and Jaintia hills and also in the Mahamaya hills in Goalpara district.

Felspar
Feldspars are a group of rock-forming tectosilicate minerals which make up as much as 60% of the Earth's crust.Feldspars crystallize from magma in both intrusive and extrusive igneous rocks, as veins, and are also present in many types of metamorphic rock.
Felspar is a common mineral found to occur in association with granites. Recently workable felspar deposits have been recorded near the Hahim area in Kamrup district.
* Feldspar is a common raw material in the production of ceramics and geopolymers.
* Feldspars are used for thermoluminescence dating and optical dating in earth sciences and archaeology
* Feldspar is one of several abrasive ingredients in Bon Ami, a brand of household cleaner in the USA.
In 2005, Italy was the top producer of feldspar with almost one fifth of world share, followed by Turkey, China and Thailand—reports the International Monetary Fund.

Gold

Gold is reported to occur in sands, gravels and alluvial terraces along some of the rivers in the Lakhimpur, Sibsagar and Darrang districts of Assam. A gold-bearing rock was located at a place about 5 miles southwest of Mawphlang.

Gypsum

Gypsum in the form of selenite crystals and disseminated in shale beds occur at Mahendraganj in the Garo hills and at a few places in the Mikir hills.

N. C. HILLS SCAM & ASSAM POLITICS:

N. C. HILLS SCAM & ASSAM POLITICS: ©subhankar_karmakar

TRAVEL BLOG : THE NORTHEAST INDIA » ECONOMIC MINERALS OF ASSAM LIFE @ TAWANG: ARUNACHAL PRADESH.. MIGHTY BRAHMAPUTRA : THE TRANSNATIONAL RIVER LUMDING: A CUTE SHANGRILA....... ARUNACHAL PRADESH AND JUNG FALLS SCENIC WATERFALLS AND NORTHEAST INDIA, IRRESISTIBLE COMBO-OFFER SUN BIRD, one of numerous avian indigenous species of North-East. a beautiful pond in lower assam THE RARE AND EXOTIC ORCHIDS OF SIKKIM: THE EXOTIC ORCHIDS OF SIKKIM ASSAM: A GREEN DESTINATION THE BRIDGE IN LOWER ASSAM ASSAM: THE LAND AND THE RIVERS ASSAM AND NATURAL DISASTERS EXOTIC BIO DIVERSITY : ASSAM, A NATURAL PARADISE WHEN BAMBOO FLOWERS ARUNACHAL PRADESH: AN UNSPOILT BEAUTY SEVEN SISTERS OF NORTH EAST INDIA ASSAM DEVELOPMENTAL SCHEMES BODOS: THE ETHNIC TRIBES OF ASSAM COLONY CULTURE OF LUMDING POLITICS OF ASSAM ASSAM : NATURE'S OWN LAND SUPER 30; IIT-JEE COACHING AND ASSAM HOME SWEET HOME: ASSAM DIARY KHAJURAHO OF ASSAM: MADAN KAMDEV TEMPLE IN HAJO. EXPLORE ASSAM: THE PARADISE ON THIS EARTH NORTH EAST INDIA: WHY ARE WE SO NEGLECTED? THE SEVEN SISTERS OF NORTH EAST (INDIA) A BRIDGE OVER A LOCAL RIVER: ASSAM LAND OF HILLS AND RED SOIL EXOTIC LANDSCAPES OF ASSAM THE PATHETIC CONDITIONS OF PUBLIC ROAD OWNED BY PWD IN RURAL ASSAM ARMY TOOK PART IN THE SAPLING PLANTATION PROGRAM TO CLAIM FOR A GUINNESS WORLD RECORD. LUMDING RAILWAY STATION An comprehensive diets for malnourished industries of Assam: EXOTIC ORCHIDS OF SIKKIM................ SIKKIM THE LAND OF ORCHIDS AND SCENIC BEAUTIES ORCHID LOVE THE EXOTIC ORCHIDS OF SIKKIM THE RARE AND EXOTIC ORCHIDS OF SIKKIM: ARUNACHAL PRADESH AND JUNG FALLS

There was a great deal of brouhaha over a report that appeared in The Week of February 7 about a Rs 1 ,000- crore swindle of development funds in the North Cachar Hills district and the involvement of seven ministers of Asom, an MP and an MLA as also a former governor of the State, Lt Gen. (retired) Ajai Singh in the swindle. Unfortunately, there was a knee-jerk reaction of sorts both in the political circles of the State and among the media fraternity. This was quite uncalled for, since all that was required was to ascertain whether the worthies named in The Week report actually figured in the charge-sheet filed by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) or not. Ultimately it turned out that The Week had far exceeded the limits of journalistic propriety and ethics in naming the ten worthies. Only two of the ministers named did what was mature and expected: Himanta Biswa Sarma sent the magazine a legal notice and Rockybul Hussain filed a libel case against the magazine without bothering about a legal notice. Other ministers expressed surprise and issued denials. The sudden reactions to an unconfirmed magazine report must have struck most psychologists as a typical manifestation of a guilt complex that is also part of native wisdom. I was reminded of the familiar Assamese aphorism that is a question and a reply to it: “Who is in the prayer room?” “No, I haven’t eaten the bananas.” When the dust had settled, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi merely issued a directive to The Week saying that it had to offer an unconditional apology. But this was hardly the kind of response expected from the Chief Minister of a State, seven of whose ministers and an MLA had been maligned. Considering the damage done to the image of his Council of Ministers, Gogoi should have asked all the aggrieved ministers to sue the publication for libel and to claim hefty compensations in civil cases. That is the only way newspapers and magazines can be dissuaded from indulging in unmerited character assassination of people. During the few days following the Week exposé, rival political parties like the AGP had demanded that the investigations be handed over to Central Bureau of Investigations (CBI). They had also demanded the resignation of Tarun Gogoi as Chief Minister of Asom. Quite expectedly, Tarun Gogoi said he did not have to resign since nothing had been proved against him or against his ministers. He also added that if involvement in the Rs 1 ,000- crore swindle could be proved against any of his ministers he would make them resign. But he kept declining to hand over the investigations to the CBI. This was imperative because the NIA had no jurisdiction to investigate cases of public servants involved in corrupt practices. Gogoi’s unwillingness to hand over the investigation to the CBI was very intriguing, to say the least. It is all very well for him to be always talking of proof. But no minister or politician involved in swindles of this kind leaves fingerprints all over the place. On the contrary we even find some of the most corrupt politicians preaching sermons against corruption. For them the facade is all that seems to matter. Naturally, therefore, people have to infer developments and actions from the indirect evidence before them. For instance, the declared personal assets of several candidates of the 15 th Lok Sabha elections show that their personal assets were five to ten times the assets declared for the 14 th Lok Sabha elections. People with a sense of humour are likely to ask whether these candidates were exceptionally lucky with their stock market investments or real estate investments during the five years preceding the last Lok Sabha elections! Be that as it may, it would have been expected of Tarun Gogoi, known for the claims of ‘transparency’ that he makes about his government, to have seized the earliest opportunity of handing over the inquiry of the Rs 1 ,000- crore North Cachar Hills Autonomous Council swindle to the CBI to clear the ministers of his government of any shadow of suspicion if he is indeed so sure that all his ministers are above reproach and that none of them had the means to do anything with the development funds of the district council in question. He should have jumped at this opportunity to prove the innocence of his ministers if they are indeed as innocent as he claims. But are they all so innocent? What I am trying to get at is that no one really needed a report in The Week to know that astronomical sums of money had gone out of the development funds of the autonomous council to help the DHD(G), commonly referred to as the Black Widow, to procure weapons for the terrorist outfit. There was a wealth of other corroborative evidence to establish the involvement of people like Mohit Hojai, the Chief Executive Member of the North Cachar Hills Autonomous District Council and Rejaul Hussain Khan, Deputy Director of the Social Welfare Department in the siphoning and diversion of development funds to terrorist outfits like the Black Widow. On April 2 , 2009 , the Assam Police arrested two members of the Black Widow, Brojen Hojai and Babul Kemprai, on National Highway No. 37 with Rs 1 crore in their possession. This was money that Mohit Hojai had given to the Black Widow to buy weapons from an international arms dealer. The interrogations of Mohit Hojai and R.H.Khan revealed that about Rs 90 to Rs 100 crore had been given to the Black Widow for purchase of weapons. The Black Widow is not an insurgent group; it is a terrorist outfit. So here was a clear case of a public servant in a responsible executive position of the district council actually subsidizing a terrorist outfit with public money! Here was a man who had sworn by the Constitution of India to defend the country and the Constitution actually sabotaging his own administrative machinery and the nation as a whole. This is how some people in the political executive of the State have helped to turn terrorism into an industry in the State. There is also adequate evidence to establish that the then Governor of Asom, Lt Gen. (retired) Ajai Singh had returned from a frenetic visit to Haflong just a day before he handed over charge as Governor of the State. In these days of sophisticated communication facilities, where was the need for the then Governor to make that car trip to Haflong over roads that are like minefields in certain parts in such unholy haste? One must consider two other significant facts along with this. *One is that the District Council was under the direct control of Governor Ajai Singh for six or seven months until an election-related matter came to court. *The other is that the ever helpful Khan came in direct contact with the Governor during those months. This remained an enduring relationship till the very end. All this was very well known much before the Week report. What was also well known was the intriguing fact that it took Tarun Gogoi nearly two months after the arrest of Brojen Hojai and Babul Kemprai to order the arrest of Mohit Hojai and R.H.Khan on May 30 , 2009. Why did he have to wait nearly two months to order the arrest of these two worthies for a crime as serious as funding a terrorist outfit with government money? Did he prefer to wait because of the fallout of the news of their arrest on the 15 th Lok Sabha election results? The Week report has not exposed to the people anything that was not already known to them in bits and pieces. But what the report did was to partially open a Pandora’s box that Tarun Gogoi must have wanted completely shut for all times to come. [This reminds me of how the Pandora’s box idiom came into the English language. Its origin is in Greek mythology. According to it, Pandora was the first woman on earth. Zeus apparently gave her a box that she was forbidden to open, and when she opened it, all the evils flew out of it into the world.] Today’s politicians have stronger reasons for wanting Pandora’s boxes to remain shut permanently. They have all their evil deeds in them. In any case, Tarun Gogoi who was so adamant about not wanting to hand over the N.C.Hills swindle to the CBI for investigation had a very recent summon to New Delhi and a discussion lasting 40 minutes with Home Minister P. Chidambaram. One of the first things he did after his return was to announce that he was handing over the N.C.Hills swindle inquiry to the CBI. People will have to make intelligent guesses whether his meeting with Chidambaram had anything to do with his change of heart. Tarun Gogoi, for his part has said that the N.C.Hills swindle did not figure in his 40- minute discussion with the Union Home Minister. Tarun Gogoi claims that he has decided to hand over the inquiry to the CBI because the AGP has been politicizing the N.C. Hills issue. But why should any political party not politicize it? After all, it is a political issue among other things. Would the Congress not have politicized it if the AGP had been in power? To cap it all, Tarun Gogoi wants to know why he should resign just because the AGP wants him to. “The people of Assam haven’t asked me to step down,” he says. We would like to know what manner of indication by the people of the State he is going to take cognizance of. The only language he understands is the language of votes. For that, he will have to wait till next year. But until then, the Pandora’s box that has been partially opened is likely to reveal a whole lot of things that cannot be good for the electoral prospects of the Congress.

Development Schemes in Assam

Planning and Development Department: Assam

Mandate of the Department
»

The Planning and Development Department is the core Department as far as the formulation and implementation of the State Plan schemes are concerned. The department maintains vertical relation with the Planning Commission, the apex
body of planning at the Centre and horizontal relation with the line departments of the State in respect of formulation, implementation and review as well as maintenance/
reporting of records on physical progress and financial achievements.
» The Department prepares draft Annual Plans and Five Year Plans as per the guidelines of the Planning Commission and as per needs and aspirations of the people. After finalization of the resources likely to be available for the concerned Five Year Plan or Annual Plan, the Department quantifies the flow of funds for various sub-plans viz., Hill Plan, Tribal Sub-plan (TSP), Scheduled Caste Component Plan (SCCP) and Bodo Territorial Council (BTC) Plan. From the balance, the Department distributes sector wise FiveYear Plan and Annual plan outlays for preparation of plan budget under General Areas.
» The main functions of this Department are preparation of Five Year Plans, Annual Plans, their break-up into District and Sub-divisional Plans, carrying out periodical review of plan performance, removing bottle-necks in the implementation of plan schemes, assessing and obtaining central assistance from the government of India, manpower planning, evaluation of schemes, etc. The functions are advisory and mainly relate to co-ordination and liaison between the Planning Commission and the State Government.

Activities of the Department
» Anundo Ram Barooah Award:
Anaudu Ram Barooah Award was introduced in 2005-06 with a view to provide Personal computers to the meritorious students who secured 1st Division in HSLC /High Madrassa Examination. In 2005-06, an amount of Rs. 21.82 crore has been expended against the scheme to cover 12,750 meritorious students in the State.
» Rajiv Gandhi Computer Literacy Programme:
This Scheme was introduced in 2003-04 with the objective to provide computer with accessories to Higher Secondary Schools so as to enable computer literacy and e-learning among the students. During 2005-06, an amount of Rs. 30.00 crore has been spent for providing computers and peripherals to 223 Higher secondary Schools. The programme has covered a total of 623 H.S. Schools till March 2006 and in 2006-07 another 300 High Schools are being covered both in rural and urban areas of the State.
» Mukhya Mantrir Jivanjyoti Bima Aachani:
This innovative scheme was introduced in 2005-06 with a view to provide Insurance benefit to the general people living both in rural and urban areas of the State. It is expected that many people of the state will be benefited from this Insurance Scheme.
» Sub-Divisional Development Special Problem
The Sub-Divisional Development Special Problem is one of the Sub-sector of Planning & Development Department under Decentralized Plan of the State. The objective of the Sector is to provide certain freedom for participation & implementation of need based scheme at the District/Sub-Divisional level. The main purpose is to generate employment through people's participation in the Planning process.

During the 10th Plan period (2002-2007) against approved outlay of Rs. 13600.00 Lakh, a total of Rs. 38,302.00 Lakh has already spent till 2005-06 and Rs. 22455.00 Lakh is earmarked for 2006-07.

Under Sub-Divisional Special problem head, the following schemes are implemented
» MLA's Local Area Development Scheme:
The MLA's Area Development Schemes was introduced in 1994-95 out of the existing provision of Untied Fund under Sub Divisional Development of Special Problem. The Scheme was brought under operation in the line of MP's Local Area Development Schemes. Under this Scheme, District Authority will consider and implement the schemes as per recommendation of the concerned MLA of the Legislative Assembly constituency. Each MLA is entitled to get Rs. 30.00 lakh annually with the maximum limit of individual work not exceeding Rs.5.00 Lakh.
» Untied Fund Schemes:
Special attention has been given for Infrastructure Development of most needy areas of the district. Under Untied Fund, selective schemes particularly in the areas of health & water supply, education, culture, agriculture and allied sectors etc .are being sanctioned and placed under the disposal of concerned District Authorities for its implementation. Under Untied Fund special attention has been given to provide special benefits to the local people by implementing state priority schemes such as, Kalpataru, Buniyad, Gyanjyoti, and Dharmajyoti Scheme that are highlighted below
» Kalpataru:
The Scheme has been introduced in 2003-04 with a view to provide direct self-employment to the youths of the society. Priority has been given to the boys and girls of the family living below poverty line both in rural and urban areas of the state except 6th schedule areas. Self-employment opportunities are to provide with an individual scheme cost between Rs.7000/- to 25,000/-only with the beneficiary's contribution to 20% costs of the scheme.
» Buniyad:
The Scheme has been introduced in 2003-04 with a view to provide basic infrastructure to all Educational Institutions so as to directly benefit the student community of the State. All Deputy Commissioners of the district other than 6th schedule areas are the implementing agencies of the Buniyad Scheme.

MLA FUNDS AND ITS USES

In India a scheme named LADS (Local Area Development Scheme) is commonly known as MP Funds which amounts to be approximately 2 Crores per term and it must be spent to develop the concerned area. Similarly, in Assam a scheme named MLA funds which amounts to Rs. 30 lakhs per annum for the local developments is there.
What are the things that can be developed by this money? There is a clear Guidelines and it is as per the following rules.
Choice of the Projects
The works to be undertaken under MLA fund scheme should be for
a public purpose only and not a private purpose. The works that can
be taken up under this scheme fall under the following broad
categories:
1. Construction of school buildings
2. Construction of community halls/ barat ghars/ chaupals
3. Construction of subways wherever found technically feasible
4. Hostels specially for working women or girl schools
5. Public libraries
6. Construction of culverts, bridges/ foot bridges
7. Public toilets at different locations
8. Sports complexes
9. Crematoriums or development of burial grounds
10. Construction of tube wells and water tanks for providing drinking
water to the people in the villages, towns or cities, or execution of
other works which may help in this respect
11. Construction of roads and drains including part roads, approach
roads, link roads, approved by lay-outs
12. Sanitation
13. Parks
14. Computers in school
15. Street lighting
16. Provision of common services/ community services including
maintenance of group toilets, courtyard, common path and similar
other services.
The following works are not be allowed under the scheme:
1. Office buildings, residential buildings and other buildings relating
to central or state governments, departments, agencies and organisations
2. Works pertaining to commercial organisations, trusts, registered
societies, private institutions or cooperative institutions
3. Repair and maintenance works of any type other than special repairs
for restoration/ upgradation of any durable asset
4. Grants and loans
5. Memorials or memorial buildings
6. Purchase of inventory or stock of any type
7. Acquisition of land or any compensation for land acquired
8. Assets for an individual benefit, except those which are part of
approved schemes
9. Places of worship

NORTHEAST FRONTIER RAILWAY AND LUMDING

The Northeast Frontier Railway has its historical roots in the former Assam Railways & Trading Company, Assam Bengal Railways and Eastern Bengal Railways. The Assam Bengal Railways had the largest contribution to make in the formation of the present-day N. F. Railway.

Assam Railway & Trading Company laid the first Railway line in Assam as early as 1882 between Amolapatty (Dibrugarh) and Dinjam Stream – a length of 15 miles for transportation of tea and extended upto Makum collieries at Margherita in 1884. The Company also established the first passenger Railway system in Assam under the name Dibru Sadiya Railway. The Eastern Bengal Railway constructed the sections Haldibari - Siliguri, Barsoi - Kishanganj, Manihari – Katihar- Kasaba and opened these
sometime before 1900. They expanded the network to other sections namely, Hasimara - Alipurduar, Gitaldaha Bamanhat, Golakganj - Amingaon, Rangiya - Rangapara & Dhubri during the period 1900-1911. The Assam Railway & Trading Company, the Eastern Bengal Railway and the Assam Bengal Railway which was also operating in the Barak Valley region, were merged during World War II and came to be known as the Bengal Assam Railway. Thereafter, some of the Company-owned Railways namely, Bengal Dooars Railway, Jorhaut Provincial Railway, Chaparmukh Silghat Railway and Katakhal Lalabazar Railway etc. were merged with the Bengal Assam Railway system.

With the partition of India in August 1947, the Bengal Assam Railway was bifurcated according to the political boundaries, leading to the formation of the Assam Railway with its headquarters at Pandu. In 1948 the Darjeeling - Himalayan Railway was also taken over by the Government of India and merged with Assam Railways.

The partition of the country and formation of the erstwhile East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) led to complete severance of communication with the State of Assam from the rest of India. It was restored with the completion of the Assam Rail Link Project in January 1950.

During the reorganisation of Railway zones in 1953, Assam Railway and Avadh - Tirhut Railway were merged to form the North Eastern Railway with headquarters at Gorakhpur. The N. F. Railway system was carved out of the North Eastern Railway on 15th January, 1958 and based at Maligaon, Guwahati at the foothill of Nilachal 'Parbat', the abode of Goddess Kamakhya.

N. F. Railway is the smallest of the 9 zones on the Indian Railways, but has the unique distinction of serving as many as ten States of the Indian Union, namely Arunachal Pradesh, Assam, Bihar, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram. Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and West Bengal. Besides, it also serves as a rail-head for the Himalayan kingdoms of Nepal and Bhutan and provides interchange facilities with Bangladesh Railway.

Administration :

NF Railway has got 5 Divisions viz. Katihar – covering the states of Bihar, Sikkim and Part West Bengal including the prestigious Darjeeling –Himalayan Railway, World Heritage Site, stretching for a route length of 370 Km in BG, 406 Km. in MG and 87 Km in NG; Alipurduar Jn. – covering the states of Assam and West Bengal, stretching for a route length of 218 Km in BG and 477 Km. in MG; Rangiya - covering the states of Arunachal Pradesh and Assam stretching for a route length of 319 Km in BG and 652 Km. in MG; Lumding– covering the states of Assam, Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram, Nagaland and Tripura stretching for a route length of 360 Km in BG and 529 Km. in MG; and Tinsukia – covering the states of Assam, Arunachal Pradesh ans Nagaland, stretching for a route length of 490 Km in BG and 21 Km. in MG.