Guwahati, Dec 8: Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Friday called upon policymakers to take into consideration the topography and geographical constraints of the Northeastern region of the country while formulating urban planning and development policies.
Delivering the inaugural address of the North East States Conclave on Urban Planning, organised by the department of housing and urban affairs, Assam, in collaboration with the high-level committee of the Union ministry of housing and urban affairs here on Friday, the chief minister stressed on the need to depart from the often-practised “one size fits all” philosophy while formulating policies for the nation, “because what is workable in one region may not provide fruitful results in another.”
Sarma expressed hope that while formulating national policies, policymakers would consider drawing “regional and sub-regional policies” as well.
The chief minister further said that the Assam government has laid emphasis on the process of urbanisation across the state with special focus on Guwahati, Northeast India’s largest city.
Referring to Guwahati as the natural “Gateway to the Northeast”, Sarma said that the largest city of Northeast India has the potential to transform itself into the “Gateway to South-East Asia” and necessary work and planning in this regard were being undertaken at a massive scale since the past couple of years.
Expressing gratitude towards the Union housing and urban affairs ministry for supporting the state government’s ambitious plans for redevelopment and modernisation projects across Guwahati, the chief minister said urbanisation planning in Guwahati has its challenges as there is little scope of expansion of the city’s geographical expanse owing to natural barriers such as rivers, hills, reserve forests, water bodies, etc.
Referring to the massive public infrastructure development and redevelopment projects that were launched in the past couple of years, Sarma exuded confidence that once these initiatives become operational, Guwahati would cross new milestones in many directions.
He also referred to the Assam government’s tie-up with Singaporean consultancy firm Surbana Jurong for development of Guwahati, stressing on the need for proper urban planning in the current era when every urban centre is witnessing a trend of population explosion.
