Guwahati: The Centre would spend Rs one lakh crore for improving road connectivity in the Northeast in the next five years out of the total Rs 3.85 crore earmarked for the entire country for the purpose. It was stated by the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways, Nitin Gadkari here on Sunday.
Gadkari was here to inaugurate the second bridge over Brahmaputra River at Saraighat in the city. The three-lane bridge of 1.5 Km length has been built at a cost of Rs 475 crore. The first and still existing road-cum-rail bridge over Brahmaputra river at Saraighat was built in 1963 at a cost of Rs 10.7 crore.
The Union Minister also laid the foundation for development of Barak River in South Assam as National Waterway 16 for shipping and navigation.
Meanwhile, the roll on-roll off (Ro-Ro) vessel namely MV Gopinath Bordoloi was also flagged off from Haldia Port (Kolkata) via Indo-Bangladesh Protocol Route to serve on Brahmaputra River.
Gadkari announced that the Government of India would invest more than Rs One lakh crore in construction of roads in the Northeast and Rs 2,000 crore for augmenting inland water transport network in river-rich Assam.
The Centre will invest Rs 15,000 crore to covert 1253 kilometer state highways in Assam to national highways within five years. The Central Roads Fund for the state has been increased from Rs. 450 crore to Rs. 800 crore.
Gadkari announced that dredging would be done in the course of Brahmaputra River from Sadiya to Dhubri and effectively use the silt extracted for development of Brahmaputra Express Highway, which will be built as an access control highway.
Stating that the Centre accords top priority to waterways expansion, Gadkari announced construction of floating terminals on the Brahmaputra National Waterways upto Bangladesh.
This will facilitate transportation of cargo, cold storage and boost trade and commerce in the state.
Speaking on the occasion, Nitin Gadkari emphasised the importance of roads for development and prosperity of Assam and the rest of the North-East.
He voiced his concern over the rising deaths in road accidents and stressed the importance of road engineering and identification and rectification of ‘black spots’ as far as road safety is concerned.
PTI adds
The Road Transport and Highways Ministry had set a target of constructing 40 kilometres of road every day by the end of this fiscal, but the ministry will miss the target. “We had achieved 18 kilometres a day in December and we are hopeful of reaching 30 kilometres every day by March. We will now reach the target of constructing 40 kilometres of road every day in next financial year,” Gadkari said.
The new Brahmaputra bridge at Saraighat in the state capital here is constructed next to the existing double-decker rail-cum-road bridge to ease out massive traffic congestion.
The new 1.49-kilometre bridge is constructed by National Highways Authority of India at an investment of Rs 475 crores.
