SHILLONG, Jan 25: At a time when the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) is awaiting a response from the Meghalaya government to resume construction work on the Tetelia-Byrnihat railway project which has remained stalled for over three years now, the state government has entrusted the responsibility of resuming the project to the Ri Bhoi district administration.
“We have entrusted the responsibility to the Ri Bhoi district administration to convince the land owners, NGOs and other stakeholders. We want to take everybody on board before resuming the project,” Deputy Chief Minister, Prestone Tynsong said on Monday.
Revealing that the Ri Bhoi district administration was already on the job, Tynsong said the state government was awaiting a report from Nongpoh. “If the Ri Bhoi DC feels that we need to raise the matter with concerned stakeholders again, we are ready to do so,” Tynsong added.
Although work on the Assam portion of the railway line is going on in full swing, the project has not seen any progress in Meghalaya as pressure groups have not allowed resumption of construction work fearing that the railway line would encourage influx.