Chief Minister Okram Ibobi yesterday met Union Minister of Forest and Environment in New Delhi and urged him to issue the necessary orders on the clearance of its Ministry as soon as possible in connection with the construction of Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal BG railway project. Forest Advisory Committee recommended diversion of 1,005 hectares of forest land for construction of 111 km long Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line in Manipur. Completion of the project means Imphal being connected to India’s railway network. Northeast Frontier Railways (NFR) Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal BG railway line project was sanctioned way back in 2003-04. However, the project could not make progress due to lack of environmental clearances. Work on the Rs.60 billion project is being taken up in two phases. Under Phase -I, 84 km Jiribam-Tupul section will be completed by March 2016. Remaining 27 km stretch between Tupul and Imphal will be taken under Phase -II and will be commissioned by March 2018. The project will also feature tallest girder rail bridge in the world. Bridge no 164 will have a pier height of 141 metre. At present, Mala-Rijeka viaduct on Belgrade-Bar railway line in Europe has the tallest pillar of height 139 metre.