SHILLONG, Jan 10: Deputy Chief Minister Prestone Tynsong on Sunday said land acquired for establishing entry points at Ratacherra in East Jaintia Hills and Bajengdoba in North Garo Hills has been handed over to the Tourism Department.
The facilitation centre at Mendipathar Railway Station was nearing completion, he said.
“After the one at Umling, the state government is now focusing on setting up more entry points. We are working on other points but land for the ones at Ratacherra and Bajengdoba has been handed over to the Tourism Department,” Tynsong said.
The Deputy Chief Minister said the other centres will also be prefabricated structures that can be set up fast. “Such structures look presentable and experts say they last 25-50 years,” he added.
Tynsong said the Tourism Department, as the nodal agency, would “do the needful” to set up the two entry points as soon as possible.
He also said infiltration checkpoints at Ratacherra and Bajengdoba would be shifted to the new entry points just as the Byrnihat checkpoint was shifted to the Umling facilitation centre.
On the facility at Mendipathar Railway Station, Tynsong said: “The checkpoint is almost completed and it is inside the railway station.”
The Deputy CM had inaugurated the entry-exit point at Umling in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district on December 21 last year.
Pressure from NGOs for the implementation of Inner-Line Permit in the state hastened the process of setting up the Umling centre at a cost of Rs. 2.70 crore.