A various number of infrastructure development projects have been planned by the concerned Ministries and Departments of the Central Government in North Eastern Region (NER).

There were some informations which were given by the Minister for Development of North Eastern Region Shri G. Kishan Reddy in the Lok Sabha in a written reply today.

It is to be mentioned that under these developmental schemes, 1,350 projects worth Rs.15, 867.01 crore, including connectivity projects, have been sanctioned during the financial years 2014-15 to 2021-22.

Major ongoing Capital Road Connectivity projects in NER include the 4Laning of Dimapur-Kohima Road (62.9 km) in Nagaland; 4 laning of Nagaon bypass to Holongi (167 km) in Arunachal Pradesh; Alternate two-lane Highway from Bagrakote to Pakyong (NH-717A) (152 km) in Sikkim; 2 laning of Aizawl – Tuipang NH-54 (351 km) in Mizoram; 4 laning of Imphal, Moreh section of NH-39 (20 km) and 2-laning of 75.4 km in Manipur.

According to reports, a total of 4121 km of road projects have been completed by Ministry of Road Transport & Highways in NER in the last 7 years. Projects of length 7545 Km amounting to Rs.1, 05,518 crore are ongoing.

In the North Eastern Region 17 Airports have been made operational. Recently Donyi Polo Airport (erstwhile Holongi Airport) has been inaugurated in Arunachal Pradesh. The development of new Greenfield Airports at Tezu in Arunachal Pradesh; Dibrugarh, Guwahati and Silchar Airports in Assam; Imphal Airport in Manipur; Barapani Airport in Meghalaya and Agartala Airport in Tripura, etc are ongoing.

New projects of length 864.7 km amounting to Rs.19855 crore have been sanctioned in the North Eastern Region since 2014-15 till date. At present, 20 projects, for new lines as well as doubling, costing Rs.74,485 crore for 2,011 km length falling fully or partly in North Eastern Region are at different stages of execution.

Speaking of waterway connectivity he said that River Brahmaputra from Dhubri (Bangladesh Border) to Sadiya (891km) was declared as National Waterway-2(NW-2) in 1988.

“The waterway is being developed with fairway of required depth and width, day and night navigation aids and terminals. The facilities created and planned would cost Rs.461 crore during 5 years (2020-2025). River Barak was declared as National Waterway-16 (NW -16) in the year 2016. It connects Silchar, Karimganj and Badarpur in Cachar valley of Assam with Haldia and Kolkata ports through Indo-Bangladesh Protocol (IBP) Route. The facilities created and planned would cost Rs.145 crore during 5 years (2020-2025),” he said.

Meanwhile, Department of Telecommunications has also undertaken several projects in the North Eastern States for strengthening telecom connectivity in the region.