Skip to content Skip to navigation

Connectivity: Lifeline of Assam

The second bridge over the Brahmaputra is part of the East-West corridor, which would connect the North East Region with the rest of the country. At the same time, a high speed highway from Silchar to Srirampur is being constructed in Assam at an investment of Rs 6000 crores.The mighty and sacred river, the Brahmaputra, is the lifeline of the people of Assam. A new bridge over Brahmaputra will serve the people of Assam as well as the States of Meghalaya, Tripura, Mizoram, Manipur, Nagaland and Arunachal Pradesh. It will provide a new path towards progress and prosperity. The UPA Government is committed to the rapid development of the North East Region. This project is scheduled to be completed by December 2008. It will reduce the overall travel time and distance between the North East region and rest of India.

Connectivity for Development

he Central Government is also committed to improving the road connectivity between the North Eastern states as well. The Special Accelerated Road Development Programme for the North East will construct new roads and help improve existing roads. It will connect state capitals, district headquarters and remote areas. In the first phase, it will be covering 1310 km of roads by investing Rs 4618 crore.India needs world class roads and bridges. Roads are the arteries of an economy.

Easy connectivity between different regions, between villages and towns, between farms and markets, will ensure spread of prosperity. The country has set a growth target of 9% to 10% over the next decade. It has achieved a growth rate of about 9% in the last two years and in the near future, the economy has the potential of achieving a growth rate in excess of 10%. The other task that needs to be addressed is to ensure that the fruits of this extremely rapid development is evenly spread among all regions and among all sections of society. For this, one needs to improve the condition of our agriculture, increase the employment in industry, and ensure that the youth get more jobs and farmers get higher incomes.

Need to Develop Industries

his is especially true for the North-Eastern region. The agriculture in the state has to improve a great deal. It needs to have more irrigation. It needs to achieve greater productivity. The North East, and particularly Assam, also needs more industries. The people of Assam are hardworking and skilful. However, lack of industries has affected growth of employment opportunities. And poor connectivity has in itself been a cause of poor industrialization. Bridges and highways are the best way to bridge the connectivity gap and enable rapid industrialization of Assam.
What is true for Assam is true for the rest of India as well. The need is greater investment in roads, ports, telecommunication, airports, railways and power. India has one of the largest road networks in the world and the Government has given highest priority to the development of better quality National Highways and construction of rural roads. The UPA Government has launched Bharat Nirman under which investments are made in rural roads, telephones, safe drinking water and electricity in every village.

Improved road connectivity will help in taking agricultural produce to markets and create new possibilities of employment, and reduce poverty. With this objective in view, UPA Government is investing thousands of crores of Rupees in road construction.

Ambitious Programme

The government is planning to implement an ambitious programme of Rs 2,20,000 crores till 2012 for improving the National Highway network. Several stretches will be improved to 4-lane or 6-lane width across the country. Most of these works will be taken up on a Public Private Partnership basis.

The National Highways Authority of India has awarded contracts for four laning of 600 kms of National Highways in Assam. This is the highest rate of road development in this region since the start of National Highways Development Programme.

Assam has now become a major beneficiary of the road programme. When these road projects are completed they will give a big boost to the industrial and agricultural sectors, to tourism and other service sectors in this region. Projects like this bridge across the mighty Brahmaputra will transform the lives and the economy of the region.
Adaptation from the Prime Minister, Dr. Manmohan Singh’s speech at the laying of the foundation stone for the 2nd Bridge over river Brahmaputra in Guwahati .

(PIB )

Add new comment

Random Stories

Plantation at Gandhi Chowk

2 Oct 2015 - 7:22am | AT News Itanagar
 “Renaissance Society,” a non government organization carried out a massive plantation in and around the Gandhi Chowk, main market area. The objective of the program was to improve green cover,...

Webinar held: women entrepreneurship and women empowerment

27 Sep 2022 - 12:23pm | Dr Buljit Buragohain
Global Assamese Entrepreneurship Forum, held its monthly webinar on 25th September, 2022 on the topic “Women entrepreneurship and women empowerment”. The event was hosted by Anjana Bordoloi, Garima...

80 lakh people to miss NRC: APW

26 Apr 2017 - 7:04pm | AT News
More than 80 lakh people in Assam will miss their places in the updated NRC as panchayat certificate and ration cards would be of no use to prove the citizenship in the state where immigration poses...

Jayanta Kr. Bhattacharya speaking on the occasion on 32 years of signing in of Assam Accord at Tangla on Monday.

32 lamps to mark Assam Accord failure

14 Aug 2017 - 11:14pm | Shajid Khan
A huge meeting by All Assam Students Union in Udalguri on Monday expressed grave concern over the failure to detect and deport the immigrants from the state even 32 years after the Assam...

Other Contents by Author

Dozens of people sustained injury when a passenger train jumped off the tracks in Jagiroad on Wednesday. The incident took place in the wee hours when ten coaches of the Dimapur-Kamakhya passenger train toppled from the rails leaving 50 injured. Of them, ten passengers have been critically wounded who are battling for life at GMCH. Details awaited.
Dinesh Prasad Goala is dead. The former minister and sitting MLA died at a hospital in Kolkata where he was admitted on April 10 following heart ailment. Details are awaited.
Eastern Panorama the news magazine of North East invites nominations for Achievers Award 2014 in different categories including Business, Industry, Banking, Music, Social Service, NGO, Education, Activist, Photography, North East Brand, Adventure, Rural Entrepreneurs, Fashion, Culture and North East Connectivity.The last date of submission of nominations is 10th of March 2014. Sent your details through email at contact@easternpanorama.in or by post to Eastern Panorama 2nd Floor, RPG Complex, Keating Road, Shillong - 793001 Meghalaya
 Be a Citizen Journalist!Report your local news and events.For details visit: http://assamtimes.org/node/8Email: editor@assamtimes.org 
PRESS COUNCIL - Sub-Committee Report: “Paid News”: How corruption in the Indian media undermines democracylnformation Technology (Electronic Service Delivery) Rules, 2011AFSPA - Armed Forces (Special Powers) Act, 1958Assam Accord 1985Treaty of YandaboAssam Preventive Detention Act, 1980Nagaland: Communitisation of Public Institutions and Services Act, 2001The State of Nagaland Act, 1962The Disaster Management Act, 2005Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes (Prevention of Atrocities) Act, 1989 Acts of the Environment & Forest Department, Govt of Assam:The Assam Sale of Forest Produce Coupes and Mahals rules, 1977The Assam Forest Protection Force Act, 1986The Assam Forest Regulation,...
A five member team of officials of state agriculture department of Assam headed by Timothy Das Hanse, Director of Horticulture and Food Processing , Assam had visited Thailand recently (!-6 February, 2013) for initiating a bilateral relationship with Thailand Government for promotion of Agri-Horti Sector of Assam. This programme could be envisaged to bear special significance in view of opening of East-West Corridor that will link this part of the country with south-east Asia to fetch new scope and opportunities for expansion of agri-horti market and cold chain development near future. During the visit, the team attended the Flower Festival at Chiangmai and met the Director of...
I was in Class V at the Scindia School, Gwalior, it was a usual routine in School getting up at 6.30 am and to get ready for a half an hour prep followed by breakfast and then school. It was morning of 8 February 1982 after my bath I did a regular prayer, when suddenly a small framed photo of Goddess Kamakhya Ma that I had kept in my cupboard fell, at that time I though why this photo fell when no one had touched the cupboard. We had developed the habit of praying in the morning and evening at our home at Tangla (now under Udalguri distrct) as was being done by elders in our joint family. Later, I went to school as usual and came back at about 12.15 pm for lunch at the School mess, I could...
Security forces seized a huge cache of plastic explosives from three youths who were on their way to target a power station in Dhemaji district on Saturday.According to police, the three youths, sped away on their motorcycles, when signalled to stop during a routine check near the Panbari border outpost under Gerukamukh police station.They were caught and arrested following a chase after three packets of plastic explosives, five packets of fuse wire, six fuses and daggers were found in their possession.Identified as Pranendra Wari, Nakesh Narzari and Hemkanta Narzari, they were targeting the National Hydroelectric Power Corporation at the Gerukamukh dam site.
The Electronic Media Forum Assam (EMFA) has organized a press meet on January 25 to brief the reporters about the 3rd EMFA Media Awards 2012 scheduled for next month. The press meet, which will be addressed by EMFA office bearers, will begin on 2 pm. Considering the business of television personalities due to the constant coverage of Panchayat polls preparations in the State, the EMFA may decide to extend the deadline for entries of 3rd EMFA Media Awards for few more days.
Over 50 people have been injured when an ATSC bus overturned in the outskirt if Guwahati on Friday. The accident took place when the Assam State Transport Corporation owned bus on its way to Guwahati from Barpeta, was trying to overtake a truck when it overturned and rolled down the road to a nearby field in Nayanpur area.The condition of five injured was stated to be critical. They were admitted to the Guwahati Medical College Hospital, while the others are being treated at the Hajo Primary Health Care centre.