Guwahati, Nov 21 /–/ Union minister of ports, shipping, waterways and Ayush, Sarbananda Sonowal on Tuesday reviewed the status of ongoing projects in the Northeast, assigning top priority on completion of critical projects by January 2024.
Senior officials of the ports, shipping and waterways ministry as well as the Ayush ministry, presented the status of the projects in the Northeast during the review meeting.
Notably, more than Rs 1100 crore has been granted for the development of 25 projects in inland waterways in the Northeast region, including Rs 850 crore for 15 projects in Assam.
Chairing the review meeting, Sonowal directed the officials to complete seven floating jetties at Jogighopa, Pandu, Biswanath, Nimati, Bindhakata, Uriamghat and Sadiya.
In addition, permanent jetties at Bogibeel in Dibrugarh, renovation of the jetties at Badarpur in Karimganj are also to be completed by the timeline. One permanent jetty, being constructed at Sonamura in Tripura, is likely to be completed as well.
The Union minister also reviewed progress of work on 15 floating jetties in the Brahmaputra river and 15 jetties in the Barak river.
He directed the officials of IWAI to ensure regular dredging on the 88 shallow patches on the Brahmaputra that have been already identified for ensuring smooth passage of ships.
“We had a fruitful review meeting today with top officials of both the ministries regarding progress of critical projects in the Northeast. We have identified critical projects in the region that will be operational by January 2024. The time-frame for competition of each project has been set,” the minister said.
“Out of the six projects in inland waterways, a permanent jetty at Bogibeel, a permanent jetty at Sonamura in Tripura, floating jetties at Bogibeel and Pandu and renovation of jetties at Badarpur and Karimganj will be completed. We are committed to the launch of these projects, worth Rs 150 crore, by January 2024,” he said.
On the other hand, the Ministry of Ayush is constructing projects worth Rs 286 crores across the Northeast.
The minister directed the Ayush officials to scale up and speed up the ongoing projects.
It may be mentioned that the foundation stone-laying ceremony of a yoga and naturopathy hospital worth Rs 80.66 crore in Dibrugarh and for the new building of Regional Research Institute of Homoeopathy (RRIH) and integrated Ayush Wellness Centre in Guwahati worth Rs 34.33 crore are scheduled to be done by January 2024.