By Our Reporter
SHILLONG, Oct 20: Cabinet minister and Raliang MLA, Comingone Ymbon has advocated for the state to introduce railroads, citing the great advantages that this mode of transportation has brought to every state in the country, including the Garo Hills which is connected to the country’s railway map.
He expressed his support for the idea of establishing a railway link to the Jaintia Hills region and mentioned his recent visit to Garo Hills, where he discovered that people were using the railways to travel from Mendipathar to Guwahati for as little as Rs 30, while taxis charge an astounding Rs 280 per passenger for the same distance.
“Residents of Mendipathar board the train at 7 am carrying their produce to be sold in Guwahati and return back the same evening,” he argued.
Ymbon, who is the Minister of Food and Civil Supplies, said that a kilogram of rice in Mendipathar cost Rs 31 in August, whereas the same rice in Shillong costs Rs 44.
“There are many resources like coal and limestone that are currently being transported through trucks at a cost of Rs 2,000 per tonne, whereas railways can transport the same material at a cost of Rs 500 per tonne and people would save such huge amounts of money,” he continued.
“If railways come to Jaintia Hills, many people will get direct and indirect jobs,” he continued.
When asked why pressure groups in the state were opposing the railway projects while the public was not, he explained that the former were concerned with the welfare of the state while the latter were more concerned with their own well-being.
The minister declined to comment on the reason behind the lack of formal negotiations between the state government and the anti-railway organisations on the issue of railways in the state.