India's northeast transforming through mega transportation projects: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma recently said that mega projects regularly being inaugurated in the northeast region of India bear testimony that the region is witnessing a "transformation through transportation". 

"Had the development work in the northeast taken place at the current pace since Independence, the region would have already been on the growth trajectory," said Himanta Biswa Sarma, while speaking at a programme at Pandu terminal in Guwahati attended virtually by Narendra Modi from Delhi.

Noting the mega projects as an assurance for ongoing development in the region, he said, "We have seen progress in railways and highways. The focus is now on waterways and we are witnessing much development in this sector now."

With Guwahati and Dibrugarh being among G20 meeting venues, the chief minister claimed that under previous regimes, such mega programmes were confined to big cities.

"MV Ganga Vilas will enable tourists to visit places such as Kamakhya Temple, Kaziranga National Park, Majuli island and tea city Dibrugarh in Assam," he said promising that tourists in Assam will be treated with utmost respect and cordiality.

During the function on Friday (13 January), Modi inaugurated a Maritime Skill Development Centre in Guwahati, which will offer better job opportunities to local youths. He also laid the foundation stone for a ship-repairing facility in Guwahati, which will serve as an alternative to a similar facility in Kolkata, saving fuel and manpower costs for vessel owners and boosting local ancillary industries, besides generating employment. The foundation stone for an elevated road connecting the Pandu terminal to National Highway 27 was also laid by the premier.

The world's longest river cruise, MV Ganga Vilas, which will travel from Varanasi to Dibrugarh in Assam via Dhaka, was flagged off by the prime minister. The chief minister said that in 2014, when the first Modi government was formed at the Centre, the prime minister had visualised "transformation through transportation" for the Northeast.