Guwahati, July 26: Union minister of ports, shipping and waterways, Sarbananda Sonowal confirmed that an amount of Rs 1126 crore has been invested to improve waterways connectivity in the Northeast.
The amount is being invested in five projects on the rivers Brahmaputra (NW 2), Barak (NW 16), Dhansiri (NW 31) and Kopili (NW 57) to leverage the waterways for strategic improvement of ties with neighbouring countries.
Responding to the question tabled at the Rajya Sabha, Union minister Sonowal said, “Recognising the significance of rivers for connectivity and prosperity, 20 rivers in the Northeast were declared as National Waterways under the National Waterways Act, 2016. The government has approved five projects at a cost of Rs 1126 crore for the development of the Inland Waterways Transport (IWT) infrastructure on national waterways in the Northeast.”
Of the five projects, the comprehensive development of river Brahmaputra (NW 2) is being done at a cost of Rs 474 crore while development of river Barak (NW16) in India along the Indo Bangladesh Protocol Route (IBPR) is being done at a cost of Rs 148 crore.
The development of rivers Dhansiri (NW 31) and Kopili (NW 57) is planned with an outlay of Rs 116 crore.
In addition, construction of an alternative road to Pandu Port in Guwahati on NW 2 to NH 27 was sanctioned in January this year at a cost of Rs 180 crore.
The ship repair facility at Pandu is also being executed at Pandu on NW2 at a cost of Rs 208 crore.
Regarding the role of Act East Policy in this context, Sonowal said, “The objective of Act East Policy is to promote economic cooperation, cultural ties and develop strategic relationships with countries in the Asia Pacific region by providing enhanced connectivity to the states of Northeast India.”
The Union minister further said that the government has laid specific emphasis on regional connectivity initiatives, which act as force multipliers for regional growth and development while enhancing people to people contact and economic cooperation.
“Inland Waterways Authority of India (IWAI) has undertaken projects for connectivity of states in the Northeast with neighbouring countries like Myanmar and Bangladesh. Our flagship programme, Sagarmala has identified 400 projects at a cost of Rs 2.55 lakh crore for the development of the eastern coast of India,” he said.