Biplab Kr Dey
Mendipathar, Dec 27: With the dream of rake load and transport of coal from the lone railway station in the state of Meghalaya, at Mendipathar, a group of leaders of the North Garo Hills Youth Federation (NGHYF) today, paid a visit to the place to check firsthand the legality of the entire procurement process as well as transportation to the station.
The visit followed social media reports of illegal transportation of coal from West Khasi Hills (WKH) by certain sections to the rail station. This coal is expected to be transported in the coming days to various parts of India. The coal is currently being transported from the Shallang area from a scientifically approved set up that began operations earlier this year.
“We went to investigate the matter and upon due checking of the documents, found that coal and other goods are being legally brought to the station and in regulated quantities. What we also found was that rice that is currently being offloaded here has benefitted local labourers who earn money by off-loading these bags of rice from the train and loading them onto trucks, as reported by the Labour Union,” said president, Panpan Marak.
On the fear of influx, the Federation said that it was close to 13 years since the commencement of the Railway from Mendipathar but there have been no cases of influx into the area. Instead it was the locals who benefited.
“Farmers are being able transport their vegetable produce by train and sell them in Guwahati markets and cloth vendors are doing business by bringing clothes and garments by the local train. When the rail project to Depa was being proposed, as a member of the Garo Students’ Union (GSU – Northern Zone) I was one of the main opponents to the project fearing adverse outcome such as influx, but then the people of Mendipathar area welcomed it and are reaping the benefits. We cannot say that there is zero influx but we have not seen that kind of incursion as we had feared earlier,” added Marak.
The federation secretary, Edbirth D Shira stated that regulation of labourers would begin after the New Year with priority being given to locals from Garo Hills.
“If backups are required or labour sets are not met, there may be a requirement of labourers from outside the state. We have spoken to members of the labour union and also appeal to various CSOs to work on a mechanism to ensure these labourers are given proper IDs after verification to ensure influx is completely taken out of the picture. We have formed this federation keeping this need in mind,” said Edbirth.
Shira felt that rake loading would only be limited to rice and coal as various other local products could be transported to other parts of the country through the rail.
“This is a big support to the citizens from the government. We also have a huge supply of raw materials like banana, cashew, betel nut, pineapples, oranges, etc; we will get regulated prices and there will be no scope for exploitation by third parties. With this view in mind we have come here to coordinate,” added the secretary.
