PM to inaugurate infrastructure projects in poll-bound Assam tomorrow
By TIOL News Service
NEW DELHI, FEB 17, 2021: PRIME Minister Mr Narendra Modi will virtually launch the Mahabahu-Brahmaputra project, and lay the foundation stone of Dhubri-Phulbari Bridge and Majuli Bridge in poll-bound Assam on February 18.
The Prime Minister's Office (PMO) said on Tuesday that beside the Roll-on/Roll-off Passenger (Ro-Pax) service under the Mahababu Brahmaputra project, Mr Modi will also launch two e-portals for ease of doing business that will collate cargo and cruise data on a real time basis and act as a one-stop solution for providing information about river navigation and infrastructure.
The Ro-Pax vessel operations will from Neamati-Majuli Island, North Guwahati-South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari, and shilanyas at the Jogighopa terminal, and various tourist jetties on River Brahmaputra.
"The program is aimed at providing seamless connectivity to the eastern parts of India and includes various development activities for the people living around River Brahmaputra and River Barak," said the PMO.
The Ro-Pax services will help in reducing the travel time and distance, with the 420 km from Neamati and Majuli reducing to only 12 km, resulting in a substantial impact on the logistics of small-scale industries of the region. Similarly, the service between North and South Guwahati will reduce the travelling distance of around 40 km to 3 km, and the Dhubri- Hatsingimari route will now span 28 km from the previous 220 km.
The programme also includes shilanyas for construction of tourist jetties at four locations, namely, Neamati, Biswanath Ghat, Pandu and Jogighopa with the financial assistance of Rs. 9.41 crores from the Ministry of Tourism. These jetties will promote river cruise tourism, generate local employment and also generate growth for local business, said the PMO.
A permanent Inland Water Transport Terminal will also be built at Jogighopa under the program, which will connect with the Multi-Modal Logistics Park coming up there. The terminal will help in reducing the traffic on the Siliguri Corridor towards Kolkata and Haldia. It will also facilitate the uninterrupted movement of cargo even during flood season to various northeastern States like Meghalaya and Tripura and to Bhutan and Bangladesh as well.
The Prime Minister will also lay the foundation stone for the four-lane Dhubri Phulbari bridge over the Brahmaputra along NH-127B. The bridge, to be built at a total cost of approximately Rs. 4,997 crore will connect Dhubri in Assam to Rongram and Rongjeng in Meghalaya, reducing the distance of 205 km by road to 19 km by the new bridge.
"The bridge will meet the long-standing demand of the people from Assam and Meghalaya who were depending on ferry services to travel between the two banks of the river," said the PMO.
The Prime Minister will also perform the groundbreaking for the 8-km-long bridge connecting Majuli, the world's largest inhabited river island, to Jorhat. The two-lane bridge will be located on NH-715K and is estimated to coast Rs. 925 crore.
Later in the month, Mr Modi and Home Minister Mr Amit Shah will be visiting the State to address rallies physically and virtually ahead of the assembly election scheduled for mid-April.