-NJ Thakuria
Guwahati: As Prime Minister Narendra Modi is visiting Dhekiajuli in eastern Assam on 7 February, State chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal visited the venue to take stock of elaborate preparations put in place for the program.
PM Modi is scheduled to ceremoniously launch the Assam Mala project for the up-gradation of State highways and also lay the foundation stones of two medical colleges at Biswanath and Charaideo localities. Sonowal was accompanied by State industry minister Chandra Mohan Patowary, textile minister Ranjit Dutta, panchayat minister Naba Doley, legislators Ashok Singhal, Padma Hazarika and Promode Borthakur Biswanath, State chief secretary Jishnu Baruah, police chief Bhaskar Jyoti Mahanta etc while inspecting all important installations.
Though the Covid-19 pandemic is on the wane with the resumption of all regular activities, Sonowal directed Sonitpur district magistrate and other responsible officers to ensure compliance with the safety health protocols. He commented that PM Modi’s love for Assam eloquently translated in the Union budget announcements which allotted rupees
34000 crore for construction of 1300 km of highways and local roads, rupees 300 crores for Kamakhya Devalaya, rupees 1000 crore for the welfare of tea plantation workers, rupees 1097 crore for the road-embankments of Majuli river island etc.
Earlier, Sonowal inaugurated the State’s first heliport at Kerelagaon in Majuli which has the capacity for the simultaneous landing of three helicopters. Constructed with an expenditure of rupees 50 lakh under the untied fund of the State government in Dispur, the heliport is expected to boost tourism in the world’s largest human-inhabited river island. Dispur has made dedicated efforts to position Majuli river island district as an important tourist destination, said Sonowal adding that the heliport would significantly facilitate tourist flow to the centre of vibrant Vaisnavite culture. He informed that Dispur has initiated sincere steps for construction of the bridge connecting Majuli with Jorhat town in the southern bank of Brahmaputra.
