Tuki urges expeditious environmental and forest clearances

Arunachal Pradesh Chief Minister Nabam Tuki has urged the Centre for expeditious environmental and forest clearances, and land acquisition as per Environment Ministry's new guidelines to speed up implementation of power projects in the state.
Tuki, speaking at the meeting of chief ministers of eight North-eastern states with the Prime Minister in Delhi yesterday, also stressed the need to urgently formulate a comprehensive project for transmission and distribution of power in the state, official sources said here today.
He also raised the issue of delay in commissioning of road packages under the Trans Arunachal Highway and urged for added impetus to address the connectivity concerns in the state with necessary support from agencies like the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), the Border Roads Organisation (BRO) and others.

The Chief Minister appealed to the Planning Commission for allocating necessary funds for land acquisition to start the initial work of the Greenfield Airport in the state.
The prospects of boosting regional air connectivity and the status of the Advanced Landing Grounds were also discussed in the meeting, the sources informed.
The Prime Minister assured full co-operation of the central government in expediting all pending issues of the state as well as the entire North East.

Later in the day, Tuki attended another meeting of chief ministers of the North East chaired by the Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission to discuss the Universal Health Initiatives of the Centre, the sources said.

While discussing the health scenario in the state, Tuki called for central assistance especially in health education and prevention programmes and emphasised the need for flexible guidelines of the schemes for taking health care services to the remote places in the land-locked state.
He also said that the Centre should give impetus to improve health care services in border areas of the state, the sources added.