Promise of rail connectivity conspicuously missing from Meghalaya poll campaign

Shubhadeep Choudhury

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New Delhi, February 18

Meghalaya is not connected by train but a promise of bringing the state in the railway map of the country is conspicuously missing in the election campaign going on in the state in full swing for the February 27 Assembly polls there.

While such a promise may impress voters elsewhere in the country, in Meghalaya extension of rail link arouses fear of influx of people from outside and the “local” people getting swamped by them as a result.

Resistance of the “local” people of Meghalaya to train connectivity was reflected in an answer given in the recently concluded Budget session of the Parliament by Railway Minister Ashwini Vaishnaw who informed the Rajya Sabha that two railway projects in Meghalaya have been held up owing to “law and order” problems.

Answering a question asked by Asom Gana Parishad (AGP) member Birendra Prasad Baishya, Vaishnaw said new line could be laid in only 10 out of the 22 km stretch of the project to link Teteliya (Assam) with Byrnihat (Mefghalaya). Work for the remaining 12 km of the project could not be taken up despite Rs 100 crore allocated for the job in 20220-23.

“Work in Meghalaya state is stopped due to law and order problem”, the written answer by Vaishnaw said.

The 108-km-long project of connecting Byrnihat with state capital Shillong by train could not take off at all owing to multiple issues, including opposition by the Khasi Students Union (KSU), an outfit feared by Indians of non-Meghalaya origin who have made the state their home.

“The Khasi Hills Development Autonomous Council (KHDAC) has to issue NOC for land to be acquired. There is acute Law and Order problem created by Khasi Students Union (KSU). Final Location Survey (FLS) has not been allowed by local people to be conducted in around 5 km length. All activities, including land acquisition, are held up on this account”, Vaishnaw told the Rajya Sabha.