SHILLONG: The Tetelia-Byrnihat railway project is facing plenty of hurdles with regards to availability of land for early completion of the project.
There is delay in handing over the designated land to the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) for the project.
An official with the NFR said on Monday that work was going on in only those areas where they have got possession of the land.
“We are not getting the whole stretch of land,” the NFR official, on the request of anonymity, said.
According to the official, there is litigation over some government land in Assam; besides, they are yet to get clearance for a forest area of around 4 km in Assam.
In Meghalaya, the NFR is yet to get possession of the land belonging to a local MLA since he has not handed over the land to the NFR.
The deadline for the Tetelia-Byrnihat is March 2018, but the official stated that they would be able to complete the project ahead of time if the land is handed over to the NFR at the earliest. Meanwhile, sources said that the survey work on the 108-km stretch of the proposed Shillong-Byrnihat railway project is going on smoothly with only five km left to be completed.
Reacting to a query, the official said NFR is contemplating to construct the Shillong railway station somewhere near the New Shillong Township.
The railways are contemplating to connect all the eight states in India’s North East by 2020 as the department has already started ‘Mission 2020’ which will be implemented strictly within the stipulated timeframe.
However, NGOs in Meghalaya are demanding for a comprehensive and effective mechanism for checking influx before the introduction of railway in the state.
The 21.5-km Tetelia-Byrnihat rail line is scheduled to be completed at a cost of around Rs 385 crore.
