Council Formed To Develop N-E Transport Plan

Apart from the north-eastern states, the transport minister of Sikkim is an invitee to this forum, which is to be headed by Assam transport minister Pradip Hazarika.

The decision was taken at the recent conference of the transport ministers of the north-eastern states in Guwahati. Assam Chief Minister Prafulla Kumar Mahanta and the transport ministers agreed that an integrated and coordinated development of the transport sector in the North-East is essential for the uplift of this land-locked region.

The conference has also decided to approach the Centre for expansion of the single-lane highways in the region to double-lane ones and of the double-lane highways into four-lane ones. Alternate highways linking the north-eastern states too have been suggested to keep the communication lines open even in times of landslides and floods.

The ministers said the growth of the region's state transport undertakings has been affected due to the withdrawal of the share capital contribution by the Centre since 1987-88. Taking into consideration the area's difficult terrain and geographical location, the conference decided to request New Delhi to resume advancing of matching share capital for the state transport undertakings.

Tripura transport minister Ranjit Debnath said the possibility of shipping bulk goods, essential commodities, heavy equipment and machinery from Calcutta to the North-East through Bangladesh should be explored. He also emphasised the need for a good network of border roads to check infiltration and trans-border crimes.

A water corridor linking Calcutta to the North-East by utilising Chittagong port facilities in Bangladesh after an agreement with Dhaka has been a long-standing demand of the north-eastern states.

The conference also decided to take up re-amendment of the prevailing protocol to allow loading and unloading facilities to Indian vessels on Bangladesh ports.

The Centre will also be asked to take steps to maintain the channel condition of the Indo-Bangladesh stretch of the Brahmaputra for perennial navigation with a night navigation system.

The ministers also proposed that river Barak in southern Assam be declared as national waterways number four.

The conference emphasised the need to establish a regional air transport wing with small or medium aircraft with headquarters in Guwahati, upgradation of the existing airports in the region, conversion of the Guwahati airport into a modern international airport, construction of more airports and setting up of a regional pilot training school at Imphal in Manipur.