NEW DELHI: Congress MPs from Meghalaya- Vincent H Pala and Wansuk Syiem- raised the issue of expansion of railway line in the Hill State. While Pala met Railway Minister Suresh Prabhu on the issue, Syiem raised the matter in the Rajya Sabha recently.
Pala during his meeting urged Prabhu to speed up the three major rail projects in the state-Teteliya-Byrnihat line, Byrnihat-Shillong line and Lanka-Sutnga line.
Once operational, these projects are expected to change the quality of life of the people of the North Eastern state.
While the Dudhnoi-Mendipathar line was made operational by Prime Minister Narendra Modi in November last, Rs.385.20 crore has been sanctioned for the 21.5 km Teteliya-Byrnihat line. Around Rs 250 crore has been spent for the project so far and the Ministry has allocated Rs. 150 crore for the project in the coming financial year, Prabhu informed Pala recently.
Pala also spoke about the Byrnihat-Shillong line stretching 108.4 km. While a whopping Rs.4083.02 crore has been sanctioned for the project, only Rs 13.41 crore has been spent and a mere Rs 10 crore has been allocated for the next financial year for this mega project, he said.
Pala also took up the Lanka-Sutnga line with the Ministry, but the Centre is reluctant to take up the project on grounds of non-viability.
Meanwhile, raising the matter in Rajya Sabha, Syiem said that track doubling in the Jalpaiguri-Rangiya sector and gauge conversion between Lumding and Silchar have been delayed for years. This has resulted in slowing down of long distance trains causing inconvenience to passengers.
The trains are also overcrowded by movement of security personnel and intermediate passengers. Many such intermediate travellers harass passengers from North East, she said while demanding that there should not be any booking of passengers at intermediate stations.
The Rajya Sabha Member also raised concern over the poor and unhygienic condition of the coaches in North East-bound trains.
“Food quality is poor and supply of water runs out after a few hours,” she said.
When asked about the opposition to introduction of railways in Khasi Hills, the Shillong MP said that with the passage of time the pressure groups will also realise that there is a need to improve connectivity.
“Those were the days when there was still opposition to the railways, but I think things are changing as there is a need to have infrastructure development from several quarters,” Pala said.
It may be mentioned that after Garo Hills was brought on the railway map of the country in November last year, the Khasi Students Union, which was vocal against the railway project in Khasi-Jaintia Hills, said that the Union would not oppose railway in Shillong provided that Government introduces a proper mechanism to check influx.
