Our Bureau
JOWAI/SHILLONG, Dec 8: The Jaintia Students’ Union (JSU) has issued a strong warning to the Northeast Frontier Railway (NFR) against proceeding with surveys for two proposed railway lines connecting to Jowai, stating that any attempt to push the project without adequate legal protection for tribal rights will be fiercely resisted.
The Union’s sharp reaction follows the inclusion in the Union Budget 2024–25 of funds for final location surveys for two railway routes into the Jaintia Hills region: the 79-km-long Jowai–Khliehriat–Chandranathpur line and the 135-km Chaparmukh–Jowai line.
In a strongly worded statement released on Monday, the JSU cautioned the Government of India and NFR against “imposing the railway project by force”, particularly in the absence of the Inner Line Permit (ILP) system in Meghalaya or other potent laws to regulate and control illegal influx of outsiders in order to safeguard tribal land rights and demographic protection.
“If the railway is allowed to enter the Jaintia Hills region without these measures, a serious threat will loom over our beautiful hills, land, and the very identity of our people,” the JSU stated.
The students’ body drew attention to the long-pending grievances in areas such as Them Iew Mawlong, where families displaced by earlier land surveys continue to await proper rehabilitation and compensation.
“These unresolved issues raise serious questions about the government’s capacity to handle the far greater challenges that a full-scale railway project would bring,” the statement read.
The JSU made it clear that its opposition is not to development per se, but to development that comes at the cost of indigenous rights and without mechanisms to prevent demographic change through unchecked migration, a long-standing concern in Meghalaya.
It is noteworthy that the Northeast Frontier Railway is planning to begin the preliminary survey for the proposed 135-km Chaparmukh–Jowai new broad-gauge line as early as 2026 if local opposition does not derail the process once again.
NFR sources said that the Chaparmukh–Jowai new line project was finally included in the list of sanctioned works in the 2024-25 railway budget, ending years of uncertainty.
However, no firm date for starting even the preliminary survey has been fixed because of the sensitive associated with the railway projects in the Khasi-Jaintia Hills region.
“If everything remains calm and no fresh agitation erupts, the survey teams may be able to enter the field sometime in 2026,” a senior NFR official said on condition of anonymity.
The Chaparmukh–Jowai line, once completed, will provide the shortest rail link between central Assam and Jowai. The alignment is expected to pass through several strategically located towns and villages such as Bhoksong, Rajagaon, Baithalangso, Jengkha, Kherani and Umrangso (in Assam’s Dima Hasao district) before entering Meghalaya and terminating at Jowai.
However, successive attempts to introduce railways into the Khasi and Jaintia Hills — including the abandoned Tetelia–Byrnihat project and the stalled Byrnihat–Shillong line — have been stopped by pressure groups, political parties, and traditional institutions citing fears of large-scale influx of outsiders, threat to tribal land, culture and demographic balance.
Despite assurances from the Conrad K. Sangma-led MDA Government that no railway project will be imposed without public consensus, little visible progress has been made on the ground.
