Union Minister for Road Transport, Highways and MSMEs, Nitin Gadkari virtually laid the foundation stones of nine National Highway projects with a total length of nearly 262 kms worth over Rs 27.52 billion in Tripura on 27 October. The event was presided by the Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb, in the presence of Union MoSs Dr Jitendra Singh and Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh, Ministers from the State, Members of Parliaments, MLAs and senior officers from the Centre and the State.Speaking on the occasion, the Union Minister said, nearly 300 km NH length has been added in Tripura in the last six years. Today, there are over 850 kms of NHs in the State. He informed that roads worth Rs 80 bllion are being constructed in Tripura, and as much as Rs 3.65 billion have been disbursed towards land acquisition cost in the State between 2015 and 2020. He said, upgradation and development of NHs will improve connectivity to all the districts and major cities.Gadkari said, very soon two important projects are completing in the State. These are the Feni Bridge and the Udaipur-Agartala road. The 49 km 2-lane with paved shoulder Udaipur-Agartala road worth Rs 7.50 billion is completing next month. The 1.8 km long Feni Bridge between Sabrum on Indian side and Ramgarh on the Bangladesh side costing Rs 1.29 billion will be completed by December this year. The bridge is important from social, economic and defence points of view, he said. The distance between Sabrum and Chittagong is 75 kms, and the bridge will ease the transportation of goods from Chittagong and Kolkata ports. An integrated check post is also proposed near Sabrum.The Minister said, construction of the RCC bridge over river Feni will improve connectivity to the international Border with Bangladesh. The 4-lane bypass on western side of Agartala City is under DPR preparation that will further improve the connectivity of NH-8 to NH-108B in the state of Tripura, reduce traffic congestion in Agartala city, and connect Matabari from Airport. The connectivity of Agartala city to Assam Border through NH-108B, 208 & 208A will provide shorter length connectivity. The upgradation work for Agartala to Khowai (NH 108B) and Kailashahar to Assam Border (NH-208A) has already been awarded and upgradation of balance section of Kailashahar to Khowai (NH-208) has been proposed under JICA funding. Bids for this section have already been received and work is likely to be awarded very soon. He added that the 4-laning of NH-08 from Agartala to Churaibari - the lifeline of Tripura - is under DPR preparation, which will provide faster and hassle-free Inter-state connectivity with Assam and other States with Agartala.The Minister informed that DPRs for four projects of 367 kms worth Rs 75.23 billion are under preparation for the State. He said, a sum of Rs 110 million has been released to the State under CRIF, and further sum of Rs 200 million shall be released soon after the submission of the utilisation certificate from Tripura.Union Minister of State (I/c) for Development of North Eastern Region and Minister of State for Prime Minister's Office; Personnel, Public Grievances and Pensions; Department of Atomic Energy and Department of Space Dr Jitendra Singh said that in Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision for New India, a New North East will play an important role, as all the 8 States of the region are witnessing a series of developmental projects in all fields. He said, since 2014 when Prime Minister Narendra Modi came to power, massive steps were taken to bring the North Eastern Region at par with the other regions of the country and added that Centre is committed to develop all the 8 states of the region in tune with the Western States of India.Dr Jitendra Singh lauded the Union Minister for Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari for sanctioning and completing several major infrastructure projects in the North East Region in the last 6 years. He said, as a Minister for Development of North Eastern Region, his Ministry is also chipping in with all available resources to make the N-E Region as a new model of development for the entire country.Describing Tripura as a Gateway of the “Act East Policy” of the Central Government, Dr Jitendra Singh said that very soon we are also going to have a train to Bangladesh from Tripura heralding a new chapter and opening new vistas in the development of this region by providing the entire region access to the seaports. He added that this will boost the trade across the borders especially with our eastern neighbours by leaps and bounds.Union Minister of State for RTH Gen (Retd) Dr V K Singh said, the projects, on completion, will provide faster and hassle-free inter-state and international connectivity to Bangladesh, and will be a major stride towards strengthening tourism sector of the State. The new projects will provide better connectivity, fast and safe movement of traffic to various tourist places, historical places and religious places in the entire State. They are likely to generate large number of employment and self-employment opportunities to the unskilled, semi-skilled and skilled manpower of the region. The projects will reduce travel time and maintenance cost of the vehicles and saving of fuel. Implementation of the project would result in enhanced socio-economic conditions of the locality. These will improve transport of agricultural goods and access to greater markets, thereby reducing the cost of goods and services. These will also create easy and speedy access to health care and emergency services. In a nut shell, after completion of the above projects there will be quantum jump in the development of tourism, economic and international connectivity of this region. Finally, it will give impetus to the GDP of the state of Tripura.Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb also addressed the event. He said, the people of Tripura are indebted to the Centre for having prioritized it for development. He said, the new roads will be a boon for the people as these will provide all-weather connectivity in this hilly and rainy State.Story and picture credit: PIB