It is a response to a recent statement made by Mohammad Yunus.
New Delhi: The Government of India is set to construct a highway from Shillong to Silchar. This highway will provide an alternative link between the northeastern states and Kolkata via the sea route. This information was provided by an official from the National Highways & Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL), reports The Indian Express. This project was approved on April 30th of this year by the Union Cabinet. The estimated cost of the project is 22,864 crore rupees. Of the total length of the project, 144.8 km is in Meghalaya and 22 kilometers in Assam. Once this project is completed, the dependence on the Siliguri Corridor for accessing the northeastern states will be reduced. The role of engineers will be crucial in constructing Shillong to Silchar highway as the area also includes large mountains.
An officer of NHIDCL has stated that this highway project is a response to a recent statement made by Mohammad Yunus, the chief advisor of Bangladesh’s interim government. In March, Yunus said in Beijing that India’s northeastern region is landlocked and that Bangladesh is the sole guardian of the ocean for the entire area. India had taken a dim view of Yunus’s statement. Prime Minister Narendra Modi advised Yunus to avoid statements that could deteriorate the atmosphere.
This project is special as a 166.8 km long four-lane highway is to be constructed from Mawlyngkhung near Shillong to Panchgram near Silchar in Assam on NH-6. This is the first high-speed corridor project in the Northeast. NHIDCL is developing it for the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways (MoRTH), and it is expected to be completed by 2030.
In addition, the Ministry of External Affairs in Myanmar is funding the Kaladan Multi Modal Transit Transport Project. This project connects the Kolkata port to the Sittwe port which is linked to Paletwa in Myanmar via waterways and to Zoringpui in Mizoram by road. NHIDCL will extend this project from Zoringpui through Lungtau to Aizawl in Mizoram.
After this, India will not rely on Bangladesh. An NHIDCL officer stated that with the help of the Kaladan project, goods from the northeastern region will reach Vishakhapatnam and Kolkata, and India will not have to depend on Bangladesh for this. Once this high-speed corridor is established, it will be easier to transport goods along this route, which will also promote economic activities in the region.
Currently, the only way to reach the seven northeastern states is through the Siliguri corridor, which is famously known as ‘chicken neck’.
