Shillong, July 29: The government is in the process of establishing a direct link with West Bengal through Mahendraganj-hilli road. This will reduce a distance of 600 kms to just 85 kms and will foster trade and commerce.
Chief Minister Conrad Sangma said this addressing the gathering at the Commonwealth Parliamentary Association meeting held in Rilbong for NE states .
He said with around 10,000 passengers every month, the Shillong airport is directly connected to Delhi, Kolkata, Aizawl, Agartala, Imphal, Dimapur, Dibrugarh and Guwahati. “With the help of government of India, we are now taking steps to upgrade the Shillong Airport to accommodate bigger flights.
We have additionally requested the Ministry of Civil Aviation to declare the Shillong Airport as an International Airport to improve direct connectivity with countries bordering the NE states, which will greatly boost the Act East Policy.
Thanks to the government of India – Under the Act East Policy, several projects, funded by the Ministry of External Affairs, have been undertaken to connect Northeastern states with neighboring countries like Myanmar & Bangladesh. This even includes the development of an economic corridor.
Playing to the regional strength, industry and government partnership can scale up development of the region while maintaining the right balance and mitigating the threats that have existed traditionally. Adopting learnings from small countries of Europe and Asia that have significantly lifted up their economy with limited resource while protecting the flora and fauna, shall take the north eastern regional economy to higher level, the CM said.
“An integrated approach, greater cooperation at regional and local levels are essential for this development. I believe that a shared vision of costs and benefits through strategic planning and infrastructure interventions are key strengths for the development of the region”, he said.
