Guwahati: The Northeast is undergoing “transformation through transportation,” according to Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and the region’s regular megaproject inaugurations are proof of this.
Speaking at a function at Pandu Terminal in Guwahati which Prime Minister Narendra Modi virtually attended from New Delhi, CM Sarma said the Northeast would have already been on the growth track if development activities had continued since Independence at the current rate.
At the event, Modi opened the Maritime Skill Development Centre in Guwahati which will provide local youths with greater employment possibilities.
The Prime Minister also broke ground for a ship-repairing facility in Guwahati that will compete with a facility of a similar nature in Kolkata by saving ship owners money on fuel and labour costs, increasing nearby ancillary businesses, and creating jobs.
The prime minister also laid the cornerstone for an elevated route that would connect Pandu Terminal to National Highway 27. According to PTI, it will permit freight vehicles to move around the clock.
The prime minister signalled the start of the MV Ganga Vilas, the world’s longest river cruise, which will sail from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam through Dhaka.
When the first Modi administration took office at the Center in 2014, the chief minister claimed that the prime minister had envisioned “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,” the chief minister said.
He said, mega projects that are regularly inaugurated across the Northeast assure the people that development is taking place.
With Guwahati and Dibrugarh being among G20 meeting venues, he claimed that under previous regimes, such mega programmes were confined to big 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 asserted.
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.