Governor Bhishma Narain Singh has urged for a new derermination on the part of the working class people in general and the engineers and other technicaily qualified people in particular to bring about accelerated development of the North-East.
Mr Singh was addressing several gatherings of workers, engineers, contractors and general public in course of his two-day visit to the Kopili Hydro Electric Project campus on August 11 and 12 last.
Addressing the workers at the construction site of the Kopili power House Mr Singh dwelt on the problems of communication and geographical isolation of the North-East and referred to the special attention given by the Centre for rapid development of the region. He said unlike the rest of the country a four-tier development programme was under implementation in the North-East through the agencies of Center, State and Union Territories Government, District Councils and the North-Eastern Council.
Referring to the impact of development projects like Kopili on the general prosperity of the country Mr Singh underscored the need for greater awareness for national integration and solidarity. He observed that in a parliamentery democracy, like the one in India, there was no scope for confrontations between the State Governments and the Centre or between the State Administration and Drstrict Council. The Constitution has provided ample opportunities to all the Units of administration in the country to work in closest harmony and active co-operation, Mr Singh added.
The Chairman cum Managing Director of NEEPCO, Mr S R Shah, informed the Governor that the project as per its revised schedule would finally generate 735 M.W. of power after the completion of the first two phases generation of 150 M. W. and 185 M.W. He also stated that besides generating additional power, it would be possible to irrigate about four lakh hectares of land in the downstream of Kopili.