AGARTALA, September 30 (TIWN): Tripura Transport Minister Manik Dey on Tuesday expressed heavy discontent on Northeast Frontier Railway’s (NFR) decision to proceed with Broad Gauge (BG) conversion in two phases in the Agartala-Lumding route and said that the NFR authorities behaved in a most disgraceful manner by imposing the decision on people of Tripura.Addressing the media at his office in the civil secretariat here this afternoon, the Transport Minister said that despite several phases of requests from the state government to take up gauge conversion in double phase, the NFR authorities didn’t take up the issue to the merest level of acknowledging receipt of letters from the state government.

“Chief Minister Manik Sarkar requested the NFR authorities to take up gauge conversion till Karimganj at the least. They don’t have the barest courtesy of acknowledging receipt of his letters”, Dey said adding that the NFR officials informed transport secretary through a text message on his cell phone about inability to comply with the request.

“The decision of NFR to start gauge conversion in two phases, depriving Tripura and other states of the NE region through prolonged mega block, was most irresponsible, insulting and disgraceful”, the minister added.

Transport Minister Dey further said that the state government has arranged for temporary surface transport through passenger buses between Agartala, Dharmanagar, Kailashahar and Kanchanpur. TRTC was asked to operate buses in the said routes till the end of Durga Puja.

He denied credibility of the reason given by NFR for not taking up BG conversion in one go from Lumding till Agartala and said, “I can’t find it believable that the railway authorities, one of the biggest networks of the world, doesn’t have sufficient men or resources to convert a meter gauge to broad gauge in one go”.

The minister expressed anxiety at the future of good and passenger transport after the NFR mega block sets in from October 01 this year and said that the National Highway 44 was in highly unsuitable condition for