PM Modi lands on North-East’s 1st highway airstrip in Assam | India News
Dibrugarh/Guwahati: Prime Minister Narendra Modi landed the northeast’s first emergency landing facility, a highway airstrip at Moran in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, and rolled out a package of infrastructure projects worth over Rs 5,500 crore across the poll-bound state, expanding defense capabilities, defense manufacturing capabilities and digital connectivity.Modi flew from Chabua Airport in an IAF C-130J on Saturday to descend on the 4.2 km long specially reinforced stretch of Moran Bypass built at a cost of Rs 100 crore. Designed for dual civil-military use, the emergency landing facility doubles as a national highway and can serve as a backup to Dibrugarh airport during natural calamities or conflicts.Officials said the strip can handle fighter aircraft up to 40 tonnes and transport aircraft up to a maximum take-off weight of 74 tonnes, strengthening rapid de-deployment and relief operations in a sensitive area near the Chinese border.A 40-minute IAF aerial display after the Prime Minister’s landing emphasized the operational readiness of the strip. Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Rafale fighters conducted takeoffs and landings, An-32 transports demonstrated short-field operations and advanced light helicopters simulated humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. Eagle commandos rappel over the strip in a demonstration.Later in Guwahati, Modi inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Verma Setu, a six-lane, 7.75 km concrete bridge over the Brahmaputra at a cost of Rs 3,030 crore. The bridge, the first of its kind in the Northeast, cuts the travel time between Guwahati and North Guwahati from about 30 minutes to about seven minutes via the Saraighat Bridge. Designed for high earthquakes, it uses friction pendulum bearings and a real-time bridge health monitoring system. Modi laid the foundation stone in February 2019.At Lachit Ghat, the Prime Minister inaugurated the temporary campus of IIM Guwahati, the second IIM in the region and the 22nd in India. The Rs 555 crore permanent campus will be built at Palasbari near Guwahati, where classes will start from a transit campus at Tech City, Bangora, under the mentorship of IIM Ahmedabad.He also inaugurated NE’s National Data Center at Amingaon in Kamrup, a Rs 348 crore facility with 8.5-MW approved load and advanced rack capacity to host mission-critical government applications and act as a disaster recovery center under Digital India. A fleet of electric buses and other connectivity projects were also launched.
