Echoing Das’s views, Ananda Ram Raitani, president of the Contractors’ Association said neither the NF Railways nor the Assam Government have been able to provide or assure any kind of reliable security. “We have invested huge sums of money apart from renting various heavy and costly pieces of equipment, which are now all lying in the sites without any security. We can’t do anything if these are damaged or stolen by militants and miscreants,” Raitani added.

Asked when they would resume work, Raitani and Das said they want “perfect and foolproof security” from the authorities. “We cannot send our employees to the sites in the NC Hills just because the militant group has announced a ceasefire. They won’t inform us beforehand when they withdraw their ceasefire and start killing and kidnapping,” Raitani said, adding “The funniest thing is that whenever we approach the authorities and raise our problems, they ask us what kind of security we want. We are not security experts. It is for them to assess the situation and provide security.”