Ri Bhoi administration gets tough to secure land for railway project
SHILLONG: Talking tough on the implementation of the Tetelia-Byrnihat railway project, the Ri Bhoi district administration has said that land owners who have already received compensation will be asked to vacate their plots to make way for construction.
Speaking to The Shillong Times, Ri Bhoi Deputy Commissioner CP Gotmare said that land acquisition for the project was completed long ago and if people are still unwilling to part with their plots, the District Administration will have no option but to intervene.
It may be mentioned that Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is still waiting for handing over of land in some areas of Byrnihat.
The deadline for the Tetelia-Byrnihat project is March 2018 but the NFR is confident of completing the work ahead of time if land is made available at the earliest. The 21.5-km Tetelia-Byrnihat rail line is scheduled to be completed at a cost of around Rs 385 crore.
Responding to a query about the railway project from Byrnihat to Shillong, the DC informed that the project is being taken up in different phases and to start with, the Government wants to connect Byrnihat with Lailad near Jirang. However, the NFR and the District Administration are awaiting the no objection certificate from the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council (KHADC) to start the land acquisition process for the project.
He also informed that a new alignment is being worked out from Lailad for the project since the earlier alignment passed through forest areas. “We are working with railway officials for the new alignment and inspections,” he said.
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 time.