Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal while sharing Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s vision of Gati Shakti said that the North-eastern region will play a critical role in reviving the economic prosperity of India.

Sonowal is hopeful that cargo ships will start sailing on the Brahmaputra towards the later part of this year. He informed that the dredging work at critical junctures of the river has already been initiated by the ministry. 

“The Bangladesh government, with support from the Centre, is also working on the Jamuna River to make the 2000-km long waterway from Sadiya to Haldia via Bangladesh a smooth passage,” the Minister of Ports, Shipping and Waterways and AYUSH said in an event on Sunday.

“In order to provide a springboard for the region to act as a catalyst in India’s economic rebound, there have been efforts to build waterways of the region and connect it to major ports in the Bay of Bengal. This will not only unlock the economic potential of the region but allow the landlocked region direct access to the international trading routes,” he said.

The minister said that the government is working tirelessly to connect Mizoram, Tripura and Assam to strategic ports in Myanmar (Sittwe) and Bangladesh (Mongla and Chittagong).

In order to integrate expertise from the Northeast to make the dredging into a sustainable and economically viable proposition, the minister also indicated that support from experts in Tezpur University, IIT Guwahati and IIM Shillong will be crucial.

“The potential of the Brahmaputra as well as other rivers of the Northeast is huge and people will get direct benefit from the development of river tourism, cargo transportation and alternative economic transportation.” 

“The government’s Jal Marg Vikas project is working to ensure optimal and holistic development of the region by rejuvenating the rivers as a viable and sustainable economic proposition,” he added.

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