Indore (Madhya Pradesh): For the first time, Dhar, a tribal-dominated area of the western Nimar region, is going to get the facility of train services by the end of this year. This is just a section of the 204 km Indore-Dahod new line project. The construction of railway stations buildings, track commissioning, ROB and underpass are going on between Tehi and Dhar at a fast pace.
Significantly, the commissioning of the railway track in the 2.9 km long tunnel at Tehi (close to Pithampur) is all set to begin this month.
As per officials, the target is to complete the construction of the Tehi-Dhar section by December2025 and of the whole 204 km Indore-Dahod section by December 2027.
This correspondent did a reality check of the construction work from Tehi to Dhar on Thursday. From the 204 km-long Indore-Dahod new line project, the operation of the goods trains started a few years back between the 19.94 km long Indore-Tehi section.
Now the Railways has focused on speeding up the construction work on the 46.67 km-long Tehi-Dhar section. It includes the construction of railway station building at Pithampur, Sagour Kuti, Dhar and Tirla. Over 1000 labourers, engineers and officers are engaged in the work round the clock on this section.
2.9 km long tunnel built at a cost of ₹270 cr in Tehi
The Railways has crossed the stumbling block of excavation of a 2.9 km tunnel on this section at Tehi (Pithampur). This correspondent visited the tunnel, excavation of which began in June 2023 and complete breakthrough was achieved in one year in June 2024.
Since then, the finishing work of the tunnel is going on and about one-third of it is left. Now final lining is being done for permanent support. To prevent water leakage, waterproof geotextile and geomembrane are being installed through the gentry. A drain line has also been made to drain out water.
Mumbai Western Railway CPRO, Vineet Abhishek said "The Indore-Dahod rail project is very important as train operation here will reduce the distance of the rail route between Indore-Mumbai. After independence, some areas of MP and Gujarat, including Dhar, Alirajpur and Jhabua, which were untouched by trains till now, will now get a train facility. Along with this, the goods from Pithampur industrial area can directly be sent to the Jawaharlal Nehru Port Trust (JNPT) in Mumbai and the Mundra Port in Gujarat. Our target is to complete the construction of the Tehi-Dhar section by December2025 and of the whole 204 km Indore-Dahod section by December 2027."
