The All Jaiñtia Youth Welfare Organisation (AJYWO) has met with the Chief Executive Member of the Jaiñtia Hills Autonomous District Council (JHADC), Thombor Shiwat, to appeal to him to deny a no-objection certificate (NOC) to any proposed railway line in East Jaiñtia Hills.
The state government had recently suggested that, with the railway project in Ri-Bhoi and East Khasi Hills stalled due to adamant opposition from pressure groups, it would explore the possibility of bringing railways to East Jaiñtia Hills.
Railways are ostensibly opposed as the pressure groups fear that they will lead to an influx of outsiders even though the government is only talking about freight rail. Many suspect that much of the opposition is really about supporting the trucking lobby. East Jaintia Hills, being a district with coal and limestone deposits and cement factories, could benefit from transporting its goods by rail.
Shiwat reassured the AJYWO that the JHADC has yet to issue any NOC for railways in the district. Like other pressure groups, the AJYWO, which has opposed rail since 2013 when suggested by Shillong MP Vincent Pala, said that the Inner Line Permit (ILP) must first be introduced in Meghalaya before it could acquiesce to the coming of trains.
