New Delhi, December 12: The Union Minister of State (Independent Charge) for Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Shri Paban Singh Ghatowar has said that Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) under Ministry of Shipping has taken initiative for declaring Lakhipur-Bhanga stretch of River Barak (121 kms.) as National Waterway which will provide connectivity to Barak Valley Region of Assam with Haldia and Kolkata ports through designated waterway routes of Bangladesh under Indo-Bangladesh Inland Water Transit & Trade Protocol.
The project will be implemented in two phases – Phase I (Bhanga-Silchar stretch of 70 kms. – estimated completion time 3 years after declaration of waterway) and Phase II (Silchar-Lakhipur stretch of 51 kms.- proposed to commence after completion of Phase I and after assessing realistic potential of cargo from cargo owners/operators in upper stretch.
In a written reply in the Rajya Sabha today Shri Ghatowar said, Ministry of Civil Aviation has taken up construction of two new Greenfield Airports; one in Sikkim, known as Pakyong Greenfield Airport (estimated completion by 2013) and other in Arunachal Pradesh (DPR is yet to be prepared). Efforts are also being made to utilize existing airfields in North Eastern States for civilian operations for which additional construction works for establishing civil enclaves and strengthening of runway etc. are being done and completion of these projects will depend on availability of land from concerned State Governments.
The Minister said, Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MORTH) has been implementing ongoing Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in North East (SARDP-NE) since 2006-07 for improvement and development of various National Highways, State roads and General Staff roads in North Eastern Region and the programme is divided into two parts, viz. SARDP-NE, Phase –A (approved for implementation) and Phase-B (approved for DPR preparation only). So far work for 3733 km has been awarded and 919 km road construction completed. (SP News)
