Meghalaya Elections - Byrnihat's railway line: A pressing voter concern no political party is talking about

The day’s business is about to start in Byrnihat’s Rongona Basti, and in the area’s only school field, workers are busy putting in place flags with the saffron lotus.

A few hours later, a political meeting is about to take place, and Union Minister Alphons Kannanthanam is slated to speak along with Badhok Nongmalieh, the party’s candidate from the Jirang constituency, under which the area falls.

About a two-minute walk from the school-field will take one into Assam territory. The fluidity of movement aside, residents of the area say that ‘development’, in the manner it is known in this part of the country, has not really entered the area. 

For the last few years, suspended with the hopes of development is a railway project -- a 21.5 kilometre railway line which was to connect Byrnihat to Tetelia in Assam. However, despite two attempts, what can be seen today in Ronghona is remainders of the attempts -- land-fillings and burned down equipment and buildings.

Work in the area, first started in July 2012 and then in May last year, was stopped by the Khasi Students Union (KSU), who feel that the railway line will bring in outsiders into the state. What made matters worse is that the railway ministry did not wait for a no objection certificate from the Khasi Hills Autonomous District Council. 

KSU general secretary Donald Thabah says that the matter is not one that hinges on development, it encompasses a much larger issue of the Khasi community. “With only about 12 lakh people, we are a microscopic community. The influx of people from outside the state and sometimes of foreign nationals have increased over the years in the state. We are not opposed to railways in the state; we simply want stringent laws into the state that will protect the community,” says Thabah.

Local resident Jim Syiem says that after the KSU stopped work in the area in May last year, the small business in the neighbourhood catering to workers have stopped. “Apart from that, the biggest complaint is about the compensation -- the Centre has given people only Rs 15 per square feet, while the current market rate is Rs 300,” says Syiem. He says that the sand and stone mining in the area had stopped a while ago, and mostly residents are waiting for a solution on the matter.

Despite its opposition, the KSU’s demand was simple -- that the entry and exit points along border entry points be made, especially since the Centre never agreed to the demand for an Inner Line Permit. He says that the Meghalaya Cabinet’s passing of the Meghalaya Resident Safety and Security Bill and the Meghalaya (Benami Transactions Prohibition) (Amendment) Act have buoyed their hopes. 

As for the entry points, which is in the first phase now, two points -- one in West Jaintia Hills’ Khanduli and East Jaintia Hills’ Rapacherra have already been constructed. Work in West Khasi Hills’ Atiabari and in Byrnihat has been stuck because of land issues, leading to the impasse in the project. 

During the hour long speech, neither Kannanthanam or Nongmalieh makes any mention of the issue. While CM Mukul Sangma had promised to ensure that the project takes off, the Congress’s manifesto is silent on the issue. The BJP’s manifesto, too, does not make any mention of the project. 

“In my opinion, the project should definitely be completed, and as a party if we come to power, we will do our best to work out a solution,” Shillong MP Vincent Pala told dna.   

Ronhona Basti headman Bihu Ronghang says that the sitting MLA Lamboklang Mylliem, who quit the North East Social Democratic Party in December to join the People’s Democratic Front (PDF) has not been seen in the area all this while. “It is ironic that while parties are holding rallies and asking for our votes, no one is willing to talk about that one most important problem here,” says Ronghang.