GUWAHATI : Chief Minister Pema Khandu on Friday attended a special programme here on “Inclusive and sustainable development of North East region by 2022′, organised by the confederation of Indian industries (CII) under the initiative of ‘India@75 – co-creating India of 2022.
Addressing the session hosted by Editor-in-Chief of Republic TV Arnab Goswami, Chief Minister said the biggest challenge for Arunachal was ‘connectivity’. He said the state had great potential in tourism, hydropower, agri-horti sector which could not be exploited to the full due to lack of good connectivity.
He, however, remained optimist that with assistance from central government on rail, road and air connectivity, the connectivity bottleneck would be overcome in coming days.
On asked about future of hydropower in Arunachal, Chief Minister said one of the major hindrances in its growth was the long duration for the hydro projects to obtain clearances that extended beyond 10 years. He said the issue must be discussed to sort out such hindrances.
Khandu also brought forth the people’s sentiments attached with their land. He said locals must be brought into confidence before going ahead with hydro projects. He further said the concerns of downstream people must also be taken onboard.
Chief Minister further called for combined focus area for investment in North East. He said the region as well the state had best quality horticulture products. He also called for air connectivity within the region.
Assam CM Sarbananda Sonowal and Meghalaya CM Conrad Sangma including Deputy Chief Minister of Tripura Jishnu Dev Varma also attended the session.
