SHILLONG, March 12: Not willing to give up on the central government’s cherished dream of connecting all capital cities of the Northeastern states, including Shillong, with the railway network, the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) has decided to approach the newly-installed MDA 2.0 Government to take a fresh view of the 108-km Byrnihat-Shillong railway project.
Sources from NFR told The Shillong Times on Sunday that railway authorities would approach the state government in an attempt to clear the obstacles surrounding the ambitious railway project.
The MDA Government had put the railway project in cold storage and had made no effort to revive the project following demands of the pressure groups here that they can discuss the railway projects only after the implementation of the Inner Line Permit or any other similar mechanism to protect the indigenous communities of the state.
The pressure groups here have been opposing both passengers and goods trains fearing that it would bring large-scale influx into the state.
No work has been taken up in Meghalaya due to continued protests against the railway project by politicians and pressure groups over apprehensions of influx and risks to the indigenous communities of the state.
Apart from the Byrnihat-Shillong project, the Tetelia-Byrnihat railway line has also remained a non-starter in Meghalaya despite making considerable progress in Assam with over 75 per cent of the physical construction work completed.
Chief Minister Conrad K Sangma had admitted in the Assembly last year that there was “huge pressure” on him from the Centre to introduce railways in the state. He, however, made it clear that the state government will not go ahead with the railway project without taking the stakeholders on board.
It may be recalled that during the recent first phase of the Budget session of Parliament, Minister of Railways Ashwini Vaishnaw had said on the floor of the House that the 108-km long Byrnihat-Shillong railway project is facing acute law-and-order problem created by KSU.
In a written statement to the question on February 10, the minister had said that the KHADC has to issue NOC for land to be acquired for the railway project.
Giving further details about the present status of the project, the minister said that final location survey (FLS) was not allowed to be conducted in around 5-km length.
“All activities including land acquisition are held up on this account,” the minister’s statement said.
As far as the 22-km Tetelia-Byrnihat project is concerned, the minister said that Tetelia-Kamalajari (10 km) section has been completed and commissioned. “Work has been taken up in balance section in Assam while work in Meghalaya is stopped due to law and order problem,” the statement said.
An amount of Rs 125 crore was allocated for the project in 2019 followed by allocations of Rs 300 crore between 2020 and 2023.
The proposed Byrnihat-Shillong railway line will have a total of 100 bridges on the route, the longest of which will be 701 metres.
There will be 10 stations on the proposed route — Byrnihat, Sohkhwai, Lailad, Umsong, Umar, Nongsder, Kyrdemkulai, Umroi, Umpling and New Shillong.
The proposed project will have 31 tunnels, covering a total length of 39.06 km. As much as 36.03 per cent of the total rail length will pass through tunnels. The longest tunnel is proposed to be 4.14 km in length.
