More strategic assets are being planned in Assam: CM Sarma

In Assam,more strategic assets are being planned, including a twin tube road-cum-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra river and an underground highway beneath the Chicken's Neck corridor. Addressing a press conference in Guwahati on Sunday, Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma announced that the Assam government will ink a pact with the Civil Aviation Ministry next month to carry out a feasibility study to construct four more airports at Majuli, Diphu, Umrangso and Manas. "The Moran ELF has extreme strategic importance for Assam and the Northeast. The PM inaugurating it in the presence of the Air Chief Marshal Saturday, has sent a very strong message that India is ready for everything on this front," he said."We have written to the Centre seeking more ELFs in the state. We need more such facilities for use during disasters such as floods. During a deluge, transport carriers such as C130 would be able to land at ELFs with relief materials," he added. A lot of highway and other strategic projects are being constructed in Arunachal Pradesh, considering its border with China, but "Assam is being developed as a backup state in case of a war", Sarma said.
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs, chaired by the PM, on Friday approved the construction of India's first 34-km-long twin-tube underwater road-cum-rail tunnel between Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam at a total capital cost of Rs 18,662 crore. "The cabinet has also approved a two-line rail network underneath the Chicken's Neck. The ELF, twin-tube tunnel, and underground rail network will position Assam on the strategic level. We will defeat the enemy from the soil of Assam," Sarma said.