CM Himanta Biswa Sarma initiates 7 projects in Guwahati city worth Rs 1,777 crore

STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI: Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Thursday performed bhumi pujan for six projects and laid the foundation of another project in Guwahati city. The estimated cost of these projects is Rs 1,777 crore.

The Chief Minister said that these projects have been initiated keeping in view the growing need for a massive infrastructure push to make Guwahati the gateway of South East Asia. He added that the government's target is to complete these seven projects within two to four years.

Sarma said that there will be several benefits once these projects are completed. First, various wings of the government, including the police, will function in a systematic way due to the integrated DC's office and directorate complex; second, the problem faced by the public in rushing from one office to another one located far away will disappear; and third, traffic jams will be minimized in the city.

The Chief Minister performed bhumi pujan for construction of an integrated directorate at Betkuchi at a cost of Rs 808 crore; a Guwahati police reserve campus at Panbazar at a cost of 544 crore; an integrated DC's office at Rupnagar at a cost of Rs 59 crore; a 5,000-seater international auditorium at Khanapara at a cost of Rs 185 crore; a Guwahati police commissionerate office at Khanapara at a cost of Rs 95 crore; and a 800-seater auditorium at the Srimanta Sankardev Kalakshetra at a cost of Rs 44 crore. He also laid the foundation of a new Raj Bhawan at Kharghuli at a cost of Rs 41 crore.

Referring to the integrated directorate complex, the Chief Minister said that there are 46 directorate offices at various locations in the city, and these will be shifted to one complex to streamline governance and benefit the public as well as the officers concerned. He said that around 10,000 vehicles from across the state arrive at various directorate offices in the city each day, but once the complex is completed at Betkuchi these vehicles need not enter the heart of the city at all.

Regarding the 5,000-seater auditorium, Sarma said that now that Guwahati is growing and hosting various national and international events, the time has come to move out of the system of arranging makeshift venues in various fields in the city.

Similarly, he said that the Guwahati police commissionerate has been in existence for several years, but various wings under it are operating from separate premises and there is a need for a unified complex.

The Chief Minister informed that all these seven projects will be executed with the state government's own funds, with no Central assistance. He mentioned that the state government recently undertook a 'fortnight for development' in various districts at a cost of Rs 15,000 crore. He added that the second phase of the 'fortnight for development' will resume from Bajali in the first week of February.

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