Page 25 - NIS English 01-15 November 2022

Multi-modal Connectivity Cover Story

ENHANCED CONNECTIVITY

IN NORTHEASTERN STATES

The northeastern states were lagging behind in
the development race after independence till 2014
as road, rail, and air connectivity was neglected.
When Prime Minister Modi took over the reins
of the country, not only did he give the name of
Ashtalakshmi to the Northeast, but in 55 ministries
and departments, 10 percent of the budget amount
was fixed for these states.
Guwahati and Imphal were modernized and
developed into international airports. Agartala is
set to become the third international airport with an
annual capacity of 24 lakh passengers.
28 projects of air connectivity have been completed
from 2016 to 2021-2022. Under the UDAN scheme,
service was started on about two dozen new routes,
and a new greenfield airport was built in Pakyong,
Sikkim.
Work is in progress on 4016 kms of railway
projects started in the last 5 years at a cost of Rs
58 thousand crores including 14 new line projects, There are
which are expected to be completed by May 2024. airports operating in the Northeast. There
At the same time, 3100 km of projects have been 15 were 9 in 2014. Similarly, after 16 years,
the wait for Bogibeel Bridge ended.
completed.
The capitals of Assam, Tripura, and Arunachal The central government has planned to take up 131
Pradesh have been connected by the broad line new national highway projects in the northeastern
rail network of Indian Railways. On the other hand, states through various agencies at a cost of about
railways have started new line projects to connect Rs 84 thousand crores in the next 3 years under
Shillong in Meghalaya, Imphal in Manipur, Kohima the National Infrastructure Pipeline Scheme. Road
in Nagaland, Aizawl in Mizoram, and Gangtok in projects connecting the capitals include 2-lane to
4-lane projects in the capitals of Nagaland, Arunachal
Sikkim. Pradesh, Sikkim, Mizoram, and Manipur.

ECO-FRIENDLY CONNECTIVITY EFFORTS Corridor has made tremendous transformation in this
Recently the National Logistics Policy has been direction. Through waterways, we have been able to
launched. Eight years of hard work is behind this introduce eco-friendly and low cost transportation
policy change. To improve logistics connectivity and system. During Corona pandemic, the country also
phased infra development schemes like Sagarmala, started using Kisan Rail and Krishi Udan. This helped
and Bharatmala are underway. The Dedicated Freight a lot in transporting agricultural produce from far

New India Samachar November 1-15, 2022 23