Prime Minister Narendra Modi launched the Mahabahu-Brahmaputra initiative and laid the foundation stones of one bridge and performed the ground-breaking ceremony of another in Assam for the Majuli Bridge Building on Thursday via video conferencing. Talking on the occasion, PM Modi said, “Not so much work related to connectivity on Brahmaputra has been done earlier. Due to this reason, connectivity within Assam and in other areas of the Northeast has always been a major challenge, but now the projects are fast tracked to reduce the distances geographically and culturally of this entire region.” He added that physical and cultural integrity of the whole Northeast, including Assam, has been strengthened over the recent years.
The launch of Mahabahu-Brahmaputra aims to improve connectivity in the eastern states. It will be marked by the inauguration of the Ro-Pax vessel operations between Neamati-Majuli Island, North Guwahati-South Guwahati and Dhubri-Hatsingimari. Foundation stone of Inland Water Transport Terminal at Jogighopa and various tourist jetties on Brahmaputra and launch of digital solutions for Ease-of-Doing-Business will also be a part of this initiative.
Talking about the ‘Mahabahu-Brahmaputra’ programme, Modi said “The programme will strengthen water connectivity by Brahampurta water through port-led development. The three Ro-Pax services, which were launched today, makes Assam a front-runner state to be connected with Ro-Pax services at this scale. This, along with the four tourist jetties will significantly improve Assam’s connectivity with the Northeast.”
The PM will lay the foundation stone for a four-lane bridge over the Brahmaputra between Dhubri in North and Phulbari in South. The bridge will be located on NH-715K and will connect Neematighat in Jorhat and Kamalabari in Majuli. The construction of the bridge has been a long-standing
demand of the people of Majuli who, for generations, have been dependent on the ferry services to connect with the rest of Assam.
Modi said, “The government is working with the vision of sabka saath, sabka vikas and sabka vishwas in the country including in the Northeast.” He also noted the cultural depth and richness of the Majuli region, Assamese culture and local biodiversity.
Speaking of internet services, the PM said, “Internet connectivity is equally important along with Waterway, Railway, Highway connectivity of Assam and North East and continuous work is being done on this”. He announced, “With the investment of hundreds of crores of rupees, the first data centre of North East in Guwahati is going to be built. This data center will serve as a data center hub for 8 states and the IT-service based Industry, BPO ecosystem and start-ups in the Northeast including Assam would be strengthened through e-governance.”
Modi listed steps, like establishment of Cultural University, Biodiversity Heritage site status to Majuli, heritage circuit in Tezpur-Majuli-Sivasagar, celebrations like Namami Brahmaputra, Namami Barak. He concluded, “Today’s connectivity related launches will open new avenues of tourism and Assam could emerge as a major destination for cruise tourism. We have to work collectively to make Assam, Northeast a strong pillar of Aatmanirbhar Bharat.”
