Workers install electrical fittings at Balurghat station. Picture by Abhijit Chakrabarty

Balurghat, Dec. 7: Half a century of waiting is finally over.

The 87-km Eklakhi-Balurghat railway line is scheduled to be inaugurated by railway minister Laloo Prasad Yadav on Christmas this year.

Lok Sabha member from Balurghat Ranen Burman said over phone from Delhi that he had got personal confirmation from the railway minister recently. ?I met the minister and Railway Board chairman R.K. Singh yesterday and today as well. Both of them assured me that the line would open on December 25,? he said.

Burman said he has also requested both of them to ensure that trains run between Balurghat and Calcutta from the first day itself.

Though official correspondence about the inauguration has not reached the district, everyone is absolutely certain that the inauguration will take place. Workers have been engaged to spruce up the station and the platform. They were seen today either replacing broken windowpanes or installing electrical equipment.

The Eklakhi-Balurghat Railway Development Committee, which had been pressing for the completion of the rail link, something that the district has been denied since Independence, too, have begun preparing for the occasion.

In a meeting held yesterday, the committee decided to celebrate Diwali once again this year on Christmas day.

This evening, committee members met district magistrate Romit Mutsuddi and discussed the arrangements. Northeast Frontier Railway divisional manager of Katihar Asutosh Kumar Singh also called Mutsuddi to inquire whether Balurghat had arrangements for a helipad.

The district magistrate is reported to have said there was a helipad in the town and that the movement of VIPs would not be a problem.

?If the railway minister comes alone, he will travel to Balurghat by train from Eklakhi in Malda, but there is a possibility of Sonia Gandhi coming as well. In that case, we will have to get the helipad spruced up,? Mutsuddi said.

Railway Development Committee secretary Pijush Kanti Deb said: ?We will also invite former railway minister Mamata Banerjee. We will strive to make the day as memorable as possible, considering that the people here have had to bear more than five decades of hardship travelling in and out of the district.?