SHILLONG: Meghalaya Government has asked the North East Frontier Railway (NFR) to wait until issues pertaining to the entry and exit points are resolved before going ahead with the Tetelia-Byrnihat railway project.
An official with the NFR said that presently, the NFR is working on the Assam portion of the project but the NFR is positive that sooner or later, the project will make its headway till Byrnihat.
“Government has told us to wait till the time when certain issues especially the issue of entry and exit point is resolved,” the official said.
When asked, the official said the NFR cannot work on the Meghalaya portion since the Government has not asked the NFR to begin the work for the project. The railways are contemplating to connect all the eight states in the North East by 2020, as the department has already started ‘Mission 2020’ which will be implemented strictly within the stipulated timeframe.
However, NGOs in Meghalaya are demanding a comprehensive and effective mechanism for checking influx before the introduction of railway in the state.
The 21.5-km Tetelia-Byrnihat rail line is estimated to be completed at the cost of around Rs 385 crore and only around 2 kilometer of the project falls under Meghalaya.
Officials also said that they are not thinking about the Byrnihat-Shillong railway line since even a small project of Tetelia-Byrnihat railway has not yet begun in the state.
Earlier, Chief Minister Conrad Sangma had maintained that the work for the entry and exit point to be setup in Ri Bhoi district will begin from next month.
