NEC plenary session CM urges railways authority to keep 2017 deadline
Source: The Sangai Express / Manipur Information Centre

New Delhi, July 16 2013: Manipur Chief Minister Okram Ibobi has stated that Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal railway line which was being taken up as a national project would not only bring about stability in the transport network of Manipur and mitigate hardship of travelling but also reduce the cost of transportation of goods.

He also urged the Railways authority to deploy more manpower and equipment and take early steps to ensure its completion by 2017 .

He was addressing the 62nd Plenary Session of the North Eastern Council (NEC) held at the Vigyan Bhawan, Maulana Azad Road here today with Union Minister of Development of North Eastern Region (DoNER) Paban Singh Ghatowar in the chair.

The State Chief Minister reported that the overall physical progress of the construction of the railway line was 42 pc and target date for completion had also been extended from 2016 to 2017 .

There was budgetary provision of only Rs.450 crore during 2013-14 against requirement of Rs 1200 crore.

Tender for the Tupul-Imphal Sector of the railway line had not been floated although the State Government was ready with the land acquisition process.

He drew the attention of the NEC and the Ministry of DoNER to press the Ministry of Finance for enhancing the budget for timely completion of the project.

Drawing the attention of the Ministry of Road & Surface Transport (MORST), Manipur Chief Minister stated that the State Government had embarked on an ambitious programme of widening the important National and State roads in Manipur.

This requires mobilization of capital for land and properties as well as quality construction work on expansion.

However, the Annual Plan size of Rs 84.20 crore provided by the Ministry to the State Government for 2013-14 was comparatively lesser than other States.

He said, "MORST may enhance our allocation so that our projects can be completed in time".

He also drew the attention of the Ministry to consider entrusting the stretch from Km 3.22 near Imphal upto 145 km near Barak of NH-53, now the new NH-37, to the State PWD which has adequate manpower, to reduce the load of the Border Road Organisation.

Referring to the upgradation of the Imphal Airport to international standard, the Chief Minister pointed out that the State Government had acquired 490 acres of paddy land and handed them over to Airports Authority India for expansion and upgradation of Imphal Airport .

He requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to expedite up-gradation of Imphal Airport and facilitate its functioning as an international airport as soon as possible.

He also stated that Loktak Lake and Barak River in Manipur have huge potential as waterway.

M/S Rites had also conducted the survey in Manipur.

He requested the Inland Waterway Authority of India (IWAI) to assist the State Government in preparing the Detailed Project Report (DPR) for introduction of inland water transport in Manipur.

This would help the State in transporting goods including PDS items effectively and in time to people in remote areas of Tamenglong and Churachandpur.

The Chief Minister thanked the NEC for agreeing to support setting up of Mary Kom's Boxing Academy and also for sponsoring the 1st North East India Expedition to Mount Everest, in which 11 climbers from the North East States namely Arunachal Pradesh , Assam , Manipur, Meghalaya, Mizoram and Sikkim scaled the Mount Everest and created records.

He emphasized the need for keeping the momentum going and supporting the establishment of Regional Sports Institutes where there was enthusiasm.

He reported that under the guidance of NEC, the State Government prepared the DPR for "Establishment of National Football Academy of World class" in Manipur and another one for "Establishment of Regional Mountaineering Training Institute at Lamdan".

He expressed his optimistic view that the youths and talented sportspersons of Manipur would continue to excel and bring more laurels to the Region and the country with the support of the North East Council.

The Chief Minister pointed out that the 400 KV D/C Pallatana-Silchar- Bongaigaon trunk transmission system implemented by North East Transmission Company (NETC), a JV Company of Power Grid, OTPC , IL & FS and beneficiary NE States had been completed upto Byrnihat.

He urged the Ministry of Power and Power Grid to give priority to completion of the project upto Bongaigaon trunk transmission system and the Silchar-Imphal 400 KV D/C line that was needed to evacuate power to Imphal from Palattana and Bongaigaon projects.

Referring to the projects under North East Region Community Resources Management (NERCORM-III) to be implemented in Chandel and Churachandpur districts of Manipur, and Tirap and Changlang district of Arunachal Pradesh which were recently approved by the Ministry of DoNER; Manipur Chief Minister said, "This is a welcome move and I am sure this will go a long way in enhancing ecology and livelihood of people residing in interior parts of hill districts" .

The Chief Minister also mentioned that the tentative allocation of Rs.44.52 crores of NEC fund for Manipur for the year 2013-14 was not sufficient to meet the requirements.

The State needed an amount of Rs 394.33 crores just to complete the ongoing projects during the current and next year.

Besides, there were several projects where the budget was exhausted and the work had come to standstill for want of funds.

He demanded sufficient funds for completion of ongoing projects and taking up the priority projects.

In the NEC Plenary session, Manipur Chief Minister was accompanied by the Chief Secretary D.S.Poonia, Additional Chief Secretary (Planning) R.R.Rashmi, Commissioner (Power) Rajesh Agrawal, Director of Planning Dr.Th.Munindro Singh, Joint Director of Planning N.Kulkarani Devi and Additional Chief Engineer of PWD Ch.Tiken Singh.

Yesterday, Manipur Chief Minister O.Ibobi Singh met the Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh, Home Minister Sushil Kumar Shinde, Finance Minister P.Chidambaram, Railway Minister Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy Chairman of Planning Commission Montek Singh Ahluwalia.

Comment