The government has approved an ambitious proposal aimed at improving road connectivity in Arunachal Pradesh linking its entire 16 district headquarters, besides improving connectivity in Assam, home minister P Chidambaram said on Friday. The roads, proposed under Rs 12,513-crore plan by the department of road transport and highways, have strategic importance for providing better road communication to Anini and Anjaw districts, which border China.
This project was announced by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh during his visit to Arunachal Pradesh in January 2008.
The proposal, cleared by the Cabinet, includes construction of 1,412 km Trans Arunachal Highway which will interlink its 11 district headquarters, besides construction of 847 km 2-lane roads providing improved connectivity to the remaining five districts. During his Arunachal Pradesh visit, Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who is an MP from Assam, has said: ?A new dawn of progress and prosperity is about to break out in this beautiful State.?
The Trans Arunachal Highway also includes construction of 60 km missing link between NH 52 near Roing and NH 37 near Dhola, including a major bridge over river Lohit between Dhola and Sadia in Assam.
The 776 km stretches of Trans Arunachal Highway comprising major bridges will be built on build-operate-transfer basis and would benefit all 16 districts of Arunachal Pradesh and Sibsagar and Tinsukhiya districts of Assam.
The project would also facilitate and benefit several hydro power projects across hilly terrains of the state. The Cabinet also approved creation of a project management unit at Guwahati, headed by additional director general, for better and efficient implementation of Special Accelerated Road Development Programme in the North East. In another decision, the Cabinet proposed to bring an ordinance to set up new central universities in 12 states and upgrade four existing universities to that level. The new central universities would be set up in Bihar, Gujarat, Haryana, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu and Kashmir, Jharkhand, Karnataka, Kerala, Orissa, Punjab, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu. The four universities to be taken over by the Centre and converted into central universities are Harisingh Gour Vishwavidyalaya in Madhya Pradesh, Guru Ghasidas Vishwavidyalaya in Chhattisgarh, Hemvati Nandan Bahuguna Garhwal University in Uttarakhand and Goa University.
?These universities will be established as per the announcement made by Prime Minister Manmohan Singh in his Independence Day address,? Chidambaram said. He said the Central Universities Bill 2008, which was introduced in the just concluded Parliament session, could not be passed.
As a number of preparatory steps have to taken before the proposed central universities can be operationalised for the next academic session, it was decided to issue an ordinance for immediate action on the issue, he said.