Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday launched ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ and laid the foundation stone of two bridges in Assam via video conference.
To mark the launch of ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’, Modi inaugurated the Ro-Pax vessel operations between Nimati-Majuli Island, North Guwahati-South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari. He laid the foundation stone of Inland Water Transport (IWT) Terminal at Jogighopa and various tourist jetties on River Brahmaputra and launched digital solutions for Ease-of-Doing-Business.
Speaking on the occasion, the Prime Minister said that for years this holy river was synonymous with socializing and connectivity. He lamented that not so much work related to connectivity on Brahmaputra has been done earlier. He said due to this reason connectivity within Assam and in other areas of the North East has always been a major challenge. He said now the projects are fast tracked to reduce the distances geographically and culturally of this entire region. He added that Physical and Cultural Integrity of the whole North East including Assam has been strengthened over the recent years.
The Prime Minister lauded the Chief Minister of Assam Sarbananda Sonowal and his government for their work to achieve this. Majuli has got Assam’s first helipad and is getting the fast and safe road options as long pending demand is being met with the bhumi poojan of the 8 km long bridge connecting Kamalabari with Jorhat.
“This is going to be a bridge of convenience and possibilities”, said the Prime Minister.
Similarly, the 19 km long bridge from Dhubri to Fulbaari in Meghalaya will improve connectivity in Barak Valley and will reduce distance between Megahalaya, Manipur, Mizoram and Assam.
Talking about the ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ programme, Modi said that this will strengthen water connectivity by Brahampurta water through port-led development. The three Ro-Pax services which were launched today makes Assam a front-runner state to be connected with Ro-Pax services at this scale. This, along with the four tourist jetties will significantly improve Assam’s connectivity with the Northeast.
The Prime Minister said work on Inland waterways is going to make a major impact here. He said recently an agreement with Bangladesh to improve water connectivity has been made. Work is underway on the Indo-Bangladesh protocol route across the Hooghly River to connect the Brahmaputra and the Barak River. By connecting the North East with the rest of India, dependence of the region on the narrow connecting part would be reduced. He added Jogighopa IWT Terminal will strengthen an alternative route to connect Assam with Haldia Port and Kolkata through a waterway. Bhutan and Bangladesh cargoes at this terminal and cargoes at Jogighopa Multi-modal logistics park would get facilities for movement to different places on the Brahmaputra River.
The Prime Minister said the new routes are made for the convenience of the common man and development of the region. He added Ro-pax service between Majuli and Nimati is one such route which would reduce the distance from about 425 km to just 12 km. On this path two ships are operated which would transport about 1600 passengers and dozens of vehicles at one go. He said a similar facility launched in Guwahati would reduce the distance between North and South Guwahati from 40 km to 3 km.
The Prime Minister said e-portals are being launched for the users to get accurate information. The Car-D portal will help in collating real-time information on all the cargo and cruise traffic data of the National Waterway. It will also provide information related to the infrastructure of Waterway. He added that GIS based India Map Portal, would help those who want to come here for business.
The Prime Minister said Internet connectivity is equally important along with Waterway, Railway, Highway connectivity of Assam and North East and continuous work is being done on this. He announced that with the investment of hundreds of crores of rupees, the first data center of North East in Guwahati is going to be built. This data center will serve as a data center hub for 8 states and the IT service based industry, BPO ecosystem and start ups in the North East including Assam would be strengthened through e-governance.
He also noted the cultural depth and richness of the Majuli region, Assamese culture and local biodiversity. The Prime Minister listed steps like establishment of Cultural University, Biodiversity Heritage site status to Majuli, heritage circuit in Tezpur-Majuli-Sivasagar, celebrations like Namami Brahmaputra, Namami Barak. These steps are enriching Assam’s identity even more, said the Prime Minister. He also expressed the hope that these connectivity related launches will open new avenues of tourism and Assam could emerge as a major destination for cruise tourism. “We have to work collectively to make Assam, Northeast a strong pillar of Aatmnirbhar Bharat, Concluded the Prime Minister.
