"Northeast getting transformed through mega transportation projects": Assam CM

• Image Credit: Google

• Jan 13, 2023 | Dhupali Das

The prime minister flagged off the world's longest river cruise, the MV Ganga Vilas, which will go from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam through Dhaka...

Digital Desk: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma stated on Friday that the Northeast is undergoing "transformation through transportation," and mega projects regularly inaugurated in the region bear testimony to it.

He claimed that if development activities in the Northeast had continued at the current rate since independence, the region would already be on a growth trajectory.

Sarma was addressing at a programme at Guwahati's Pandu terminal, which Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually attended from New Delhi.

At the program, Modi inaugurated the Maritime Skill Development Centre in Guwahati, which will provide local youths with greater employment possibilities.

He also laid the foundation stone for a ship-repairing facility in Guwahati, which would replace a facility of a similar nature in Kolkata, saving ship owners money on fuel and labour costs while also fostering the growth of nearby auxiliary businesses and creating jobs.

The prime minister also laid the foundation stone for an elevated route that would connect Pandu Terminal to National Highway 27. It will allow cargo vehicles to travel around the clock.

The prime minister flagged off the world's longest river cruise, the MV Ganga Vilas, which will go from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam through Dhaka.

The chief minister stated that when the first Modi government was constituted at the Centre in 2014, the prime minister projected "transformation through transportation" for the Northeast.

"We have seen progress in railways and highways. The focus is now on waterways and we are witnessing much development in this sector now," he said.

Mega projects that are regularly inaugurated across the Northeast assure the people that development is taking place, he said.

With Guwahati and Dibrugarh among the G20 summit locations, he argued that such mega-projects were formerly limited to major cities.

"People of the Northeast are thankful for these. We feel that had such thrust been put on the development of the region since Independence, our condition would have been already much improved," he said.

Sarma said MV Ganga Vilas will enable tourists to visit places such as Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga National Park, Majuli island and tea city Dibrugarh in Assam.

The tourists will always be treated with utmost respect and cordiality, Sarma added.