By Our Reporter
SHILLONG: While dearth of funds is believed to be the sole reason for the delay in bringing railway to the State, another major reason which has halted the progress of the project in the State is opposition from the people.
The Tetelia-Byrnihat project though has made some progress, yet it is being opposed by the people of the area from where the railway line is supposed to go.
Sources here said that the survey has been done for the Tetelia-Byrnihat and the Government even issued section 6 and will accordingly section 9 which would be the last step to acquire land for the project.
However, there is opposition as residents of the area want the Government to change the alignment from a different area.
However sources said that the other side is Assam but the railway officials have assured of some technical changes to ensure that railway line stays well within in Meghalaya.
“There are some vested interests that are instigating villagers in this project,” a source said.
The 21.5-km Tetelia-Byrnihat rail line is not making much progress with only Rs 153 crore spent in the last fiscal year out of the estimated project cost of Rs 385.2 crore. The project is not expected to make much advance since only Rs 50 crore has been kept as the outlay for 2013-14.
On the other hand, Byrnihat-Shillong project has come to a standstill and there is no progress at all for the project as of now.
According to sources, survey for the project was 50-60 percent completed when it was halted.
The only project which has made progress is the much-awaited Dudhnoi-Mendipathar railway project which is expected to be inaugurated this year.