Guwahati: Sarbananda Sonowal, Union Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways, and Ayush on Tuesday assigned “top priority” to complete critical projects in the Northeast by January 2024.
Chairing a meeting of the Ministry of Ports, Shipping & Waterways (MoPSW) and Ministry of Ayush (MoA) to review ongoing projects, Sonowal directed officials to complete seven floating jetties at Jogighopa, Pandu, Biswanath, Nimati, Bindhakata, Uriamghat, and Sadiya in Assam. In addition, permanent jetties at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh and the renovation of a jetty at Badarpur in Karimganj are also to be completed, he said. Officials at the meeting noted that a permanent jetty that is being constructed at Sonamura in Tripura is also nearing completion.
Sonowal also reviewed the progress of work on 15 floating jetties in the Brahmaputra and 15 jetties in the Barak river. At the same time, he reminded officials to regularly dredge 88 shallow passages on the Brahmaputra which have already been identified.
Officials during the meeting informed that more than Rs 1100 crore have been granted for the development of 25 projects in inland waterways in the Northeast region. A lion’s share of the sum (Rs 850 crore) has been allocated for 15 projects in Assam.
“We have identified critical projects in the region that will be operational by January 2024. We have identified the projects and set a timeframe for competition of each project by this timeline”, said Sonowal, who assured that these projects, worth Rs 150 crore, will be launched within the set time period.
Sonowal also directed Ayush officials to scale up and speed up projects in the Northeast. He noted that the Northeast “has a rich potential to do much more in this sector.” The Ministry of Ayush is currently investing Rs 286 crore in projects across the Northeast Indian region.
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