Meghalaya’s lone railway station, Mendipathar, will soon get a facelift under the Centre’s landmark Rs 24,470-crore railway station redevelopment plan.
The Mendipathar railway station would be redeveloped along with 508 railway stations under the Amrit Bharat Station Scheme.
Prime minister Narendra Modi on August 6 virtually laid the foundation stone for the redevelopment of these train stations.
Mendipathar is the lone railway line to Meghalaya and this network was inaugurated by prime minister Modi on November 30, 2014.
This 19.47 km railway line connects Dudhnoi in Assam’s Goalpara district and Mendipathar in North Garo Hills district of Meghalaya. The railway project was approved in 1992-93, but faced hurdles during its initial days due to opposition from the local population.
But since its inauguration this has been one of the most important lifelines for the people of the district for their daily commute and also transportation of their agro products through the Railways.
The central and Meghalaya government has tried unsuccessfully to have more rail networks to bring down the cost of transportation of people and goods through the railways in this landlocked state where commute is only possible through road transport.
The proposed rail network from Tetelia to Byrnihat (22 km) and Byrnihat to Shillong (108 km) are some of the examples, which have been non-starter for years because of opposition from several pressure groups.
These groups claim that the rail network would increase influx of illegal migrants and therefore want implementation of Inner Line Permit (ILP) before beginning these projects.
Now a proposed rail network to connect Barak Valley of Assam with East Jaintia hills has already been opposed by the different pressure groups demanding the implementation of ILP regime.
ILP is a British-era regulation designed to preserve ethnicity and culture of the tribals and required all Indian citizens not usually residents of the area to secure a special permit for entering the border states and regions of Northeast.
Chief minister Conrad Sangma had said that the state government has communicated to the Centre that it will not push for railway projects if the people have concerns about them.
“I have informed the government of India that we will proceed forward only after discussion and consultation with the stakeholders of the state. We would like to go ahead but it will be done only after we engage and take people on board,” Sangma had said.
However, the chief minister had made it clear that the central government would not wait too long and there is a possibility that the railway ministry will cancel this project from Shillong and divert the funds to other zones.
