Assam: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma Unfolds Massive Urbanization Plan

Dibrugarh to be second capital with state Assembly

Tezpur to be cultural capital with Raj Bhawan

Guwahati-Dibrugarh express highway to come up

Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI: Assam is set to have two more capitals—Dibrugarh with the setting up of another state assembly there and Tezpur as the cultural capital with another Raj Bhawan there. Silchar, where the work of a mini secretariat is underway, will have another chief secretary office.

Giving details of all these in Dibrugarh at the Republic Day celebrations, Chief Minister Dr. Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “Urbanization plays a key role in the state’s transformation. So, after Guwahati, we are trying to move forward with fast urbanization in Dibrugarh, Tezpur, and Silchar. We’re developing infrastructure to turn these three towns into cities.”

He said that taking Dibrugarh as the second capital of the state, the government is going to set up another Assam Assembly there. He also said that since Tezpur is rich in culture, the government is going to treat it as the cultural capital of the state with the setting up of a Raj Bhawan there. He added that the work of a mini secretariat is underway at Sichar, where the government is going to set up another office of the chief secretary. With this step, the government is trying to bridge the gap between the Barak and Brahmaputra valleys, he said. The Chief Minister further said that the government is trying to translate the entire urbanization plan into a reality within three years.

The Chief Minister said that the work on several new bridges over the
Brahmaputra has been going on, and many such bridges are in the pipeline. The bridge over the Brahmaputra at Dhubri-Phulbari will give birth to a new trade route involving Bangladesh, Assam, and Bhutan, he said. He said that the government has initiated the process for the construction of an express highway to shorten the travel time between Guwahati and Dibrugarh. “If this express highway becomes a reality, the travel time between these two cities will be shortened by three to four hours,” he said.

The Chief Minister announced that the new pension scheme would be rolled back, and the unified pension scheme would apply to all new employees. “Those employees whose recruitment process started before 2005 but could not be completed will be shifted to the old pension scheme,” he said.

The Chief Minister said, “This Republic Day will always remain memorable for me. We grew up in a generation where the threat of militancy shadowed every Republic Day, and Dibrugarh would go into lockdown in those days. However, today, everything has changed. Dibrugarh is proudly shining as the centre of Assam’s Republic Day celebration, a fine testament to the atmosphere of peace and progress of our state.”

 Also Read: CM Himanta Biswa Sarma reviews developmental initiatives in Naharkatia Co-District

Also Watch: