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MLAs call for better connectivity in Barak valley

By STAFF REPORTER

GUWAHATI, July 27 - Legislators cutting across party lines today made a strong pitch for ensuring better connectivity in the Barak valley by improving condition of roads, finding alternate rail-road routes and building a new state-of-the-art airport in the valley to ensure better economic development and hassle-free communication between the southern part of Assam and rest of the State as well as other parts of the Northeast.

Taking part in a discussion on Speaker�s Initiative on �Socio-economic development of Barak Valley� in the State Assembly, MLAs of BJP, Congress, AGP and AIUDF advocated the need for better coordination between the Brahmaputra and Barak valleys on administrative front and in social sphere.

BJP MLA Dilip Kumar Paul, who moved the proposal for discussion in the House, said after 17 years of long wait, the people of Barak valley got broad gauge rail connectivity by 2015-end during the BJP regime.

�Still, there is a need to increase the frequency of trains to Barak valley and developing alternate routes, as the rail link between Silchar and Lumding remains disrupted for months due to landslide during the monsoons, and the road link between Guwahati and Silchar also remains in a deplorable state,� he said.

Paul also stressed the need to construct a road between Harangajao and Nellie to cut short the distance between Silchar and Guwahati by more than 150 kilometres.

Congress� Kamalakhya Dey Purkayastha raised the issue of lack of compensation to the people killed in language movement in Barak Valley. �To ensure development, we need to change the mindset first. If the transfer of a bureaucrat to Barak valley is considered as punishment posting and if discrimination is made between the people by bracketing them as indigenous and non-indigenous, the socioeconomic development of the region would continue to get affected,� he said.

�Despite being the second largest community, there is not even one Bengali representative in the 13-member committee for implementation of Clause 6 of the Assam Accord,� he further mentioned.

AGP�s Ramendra Narayan Kalita also outlined the need for better connectivity and improving the industrial infrastructure in Barak valley. AIUDF�s Suzam Uddin Laskar raised the issue of problems of rail connectivity despite broad gauge conversion.

Taking part in the discussion, Congress� Rajdeep Goala stressed the need to complete the East West Corridor project for economic development not just in Barak valley but also in Dima Hasao and Karbi Anglong districts. �The old airport in Silchar requires an upgrade and waterways should also be developed for smooth and cheaper transportation with neighbouring Manipur,� he said.

Goala also took up the issue of wage disparity between Brahmaputra and Barak valleys in the ATC gardens that also reflects in private gardens. �Whereas the workers of ATC gardens get a tea wage of Rs 167 per day in Brahmaputra valley, the wage is Rs 145 in Barak valley,� he mentioned.

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