Dumka, April 18: Delay in land acquisition is the reason why the Deoghar-Dumka railway link could not be completed by the March 2007 deadline, the assistant divisional manager of Asansol, Anil Kumar, has said.

“We are trying our level best to introduced train services from Deoghar to Dumka by the end of 2008, but if the state government does not co-operate with us in completing the land acquisition process, we will not be in a position to meet the deadline,” he said.

According to new estimates, work on Mandarhill-Dumka section would be completed by December 2008.

In March 14, general manager of Eastern Railway N.C. Goyal had said the delay in land acquisition and the non-availability of contractors were the blocks in the Deoghar-Dumka and the Bhagalpur-Rampurhat projects. Kumar’s statement, which came during an inspection tour in late March, confirmed what the general manager had said.

Railway official said Rs 15 lakh was in October 2006 given to the district forest official in Banka to acquire over 1.194 hectares so that the Bhagalpur-Dumka line could be set. But the money is yet to be used.

Four big bridges also need to be constructed between Mandarhill and Dumka to lay the new tracks. “The railways have conducted tenders four times, but not a single contractor had so far turned up for the works,” added a rail official.

The railway ministry had sanctioned the railway lines during the regime of the NDA government and 2007 was set as the deadline.