By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, May 11: The Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR), miffed with the state government for its lukewarm response on the former’s proposal to discuss the much-delayed railway projects in the state, has now informed Union State Minister of Railways Darshana Jardosh that the ambitious projects might not take off in the state due to paucity of land.
A reliable source from the NFR told The Shillong Times on Thursday that the railway authorities briefed the Union MoS on the status of the Tetelia-Byrnihat and Byrnihat-New Shillong railway projects which have been hanging fire for long.
The source also disclosed that Jardosh, who is currently in Shillong on an official visit, is aware of the problems concerning the railway projects in the state.
Incidentally, the Union MoS met Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma on Thursday but it could not be ascertained if the matter pertaining to the railway projects was discussed during their interaction.
Meanwhile, the NFR source said that the work on the proposed Tetelia-Byrnihat railway line is nearing completion in Assam but there is no point in continuing further since the project has not made any progress on the Meghalaya side.
While most of the landlocked capital towns in the Northeast are on the verge of being connected to the country’s rail grid, the railway projects have remained a non-starter in Meghalaya due the opposition from the pressure groups who fear that the railways would bring large scale influx of outsiders in the state.
At present, Meghalaya has only one railhead at Mendipathar in North Garo Hills.
Earlier, an NFR official had said that Meghalaya government officials, especially from the Transport Department, do not seem to be interested in sitting for discussions on resumption of the railway projects.
Attempts by NFR officials to contact the government to discuss the railway projects in the state have met with no success, the official had said.
“Most government officials in Meghalaya, barring a few, do not even reply to our letters whenever we write to them inquiring about the status of the railway projects,” the official had said.
The NFR official had also informed that railway officials will make another effort and approach the chief minister within this month to set up a meeting to discuss the way forward.
Chief Minister Conrad K. Sangma had himself admitted that there is “huge pressure” on him from the Centre to introduce railway in the state but he made it clear that his government will not go ahead with the project without taking the concerned people on board.
Despite the reiteration that the government will take all the stakeholders on board before finalising any decision on the railway projects, no effort has actually been made in this regard.