Pala says he is not against railways coming to Khasi-Jaintia Hills region

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaJuly 12, 2023

Congress president Vincent H Pala on Wednesday said he has no problem against railways coming to Khasi-Jaintia Hills region.

Speaking to reporters, Pala said, “Personally I have no problems if a railway comes. However, we are living in a society, where we can always agree to disagree.”

He said cement factories are producing almost 17 million tonnes which means 3300 tons per day. This means almost 50 lakh tons (of cement) are being carried from Jaintia Hills to the rest of the country. Therefore, it is not possible to maintain the road and traffic in the future.  

“If we have a railway it will be easier for us to commute, easier and cheaper for us to do so many things,” he said.

He said that Meghalaya has the highest deposit of limestone in Asia and more factories are coming up. “We also have the best quality of coal in the world. So with all these in view, we need more infrastructure, we need more investment, we need more employment. If we look from that point of view we do need (railways).”

Pala said, “But if you look from the point of view what other NGOs are saying is the infiltration, if you look from that point of view they are correct because if people come they will take away our jobs, take away our minerals and many things from us and we may not be able to sustain in the future. They have a point in this issue and that is why I said we can always agree to disagree. We should not say what they have said is wrong because they look from the point of view as a small community, as a tribal community, we should be protected. We should be protected and should be promoted and at the same time we should not lose the balance of protection and also development and employment.”

When asked, Pala said, “The government should do a study on how much the influx has really affected us and how much the development we need.”