SHILLONG, March 5: The uncertainty surrounding the Tetelia-Byrnihat railway project continues as the various pressure groups have stuck to their guns.
An official from the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) said, the NFR, during its last year’s meeting with the pressure groups, had stated that it is willing to give in writing that passenger trains would not be introduced on the route without the state government’s approval.
The NFR had said only goods trains would ply.
Citing an example, the official said even in Naharlagun, Arunachal Pradesh, only goods trains were plying for two years until the state government gave its nod for passenger train service.
Another NFR proposal was that Meghalaya can have the railway network only within the jurisdiction of the state and it would not be inter-connected with other states.
“Only while bringing our assets, we will have to connect the line with Assam and once the assets reach here, the line can be disconnected,” the NFR official said.
The proposals were discussed with the Chief Minister and the Chief Secretary in January this year but the state government said it would have to go slow for the time being since it is a political issue.
“We hope the project will make some progress after next year’s elections in Meghalaya,” the official said.
Several political parties, politicians and pressure groups have rejected the idea of introducing even goods trains till Byrnihat.
The Railways had said the goods trains would be of great benefit for Meghalaya to transport essential commodities and other goods at a cheaper rate.
The NFR official said the work on the Assam portion of the Tetelia-Byrnihat project is almost over. He said the Railways will not be able to suspend the project since a huge scope of work is pending on the Meghalaya portion.
The work in Meghalaya was halted a few years ago following massive protests by the pressure groups.
As of now, Mendipathar is the only place in Meghalaya to have been connected by the railway network. The state government has not given any proposal to extend the connectivity beyond Mendipathar.
