Territorial integrity of Assam will not be compromised: Rajnath Singh to Assam CM

With apprehension expressed from different quarters that Assam will have to part with land following the peace settlement between NSCN-IM and government of India, Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh assured Assam Chief Minister, Sarbananda Sonowal that territorial integrity of Assam would not be compromised at any cost.

Sonowal called on Union Home Minister in New Delhi and apprised the Union Home Minister about the progress of National Register of Citizens (NRC) updating process in the state.

Chief Minister also reiterated that genuine Indian citizens do not need to worry about being excluded from NRC and the state government is committed to prepare a flawless draft NRC.

The issue of Nagalim also came up for discussion in the meeting and the Union Home Minister assured the Chief Minister that territorial integrity of Assam would not be compromised at any cost and the central government is committed to maintain peace and harmony in the region.

Integration of Naga inhabited areas of Assam, Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh is one of core demands of NSCN-IM.

In the meeting it was decided at the meeting that the international Indo-Bangla border at Karimganj-Cachar and Mankachar-South Salmara sectors of the state would be sealed at an early date and Singh assured of taking all steps for expediting the whole process for solving the illegal immigrants’ issue once and for all.

Sonowal mooted for drawing a roadmap for economic utilisation of natural gas reserves in Assam which is critical for running four refineries, fertiliser plants besides providing power to the tea gardens in Assam.

Chairing a meeting with the Secretary of the Ministry of Petroleum and Natural Gas K.D. Tripathi, CMD of ONGC Shashi Shankar and CMD of IOC, Sanjiv Singh in New Delhi, Sonowal said that in the wake of widely used conventional sources of energy are depleting, Natural Gas has come to stay at the present day situation. Assam being rich in reserves of Natural Gas, there should be symbiotic approach between the Centre and the State for optimum utilisation of this resource.

Referring to an ambitious tri-national gas pipeline project with Bangladesh and Myanmar, Sonowal said that the proposed gas pipe grid would link Sittwe in Myanmar’s Arakan to Mizoram and Tripura in Northeast India and Chittagong in Bangladesh. The same pipeline which would extend to West Bengal on the Indian mainland and Assam and other Northeastern states on the eastern side should also extend up to Digboi.

He also asked the CMDs of ONGC and IOC to scale up their expansion plan and augment their installed capacity to reap the business potentials emanated from the Act East Policy.

He also said that pumping in more resources on the part of the ONGC and IOC in North East would help in exploring the new reserves of natural gas and hydro carbon in Assam in particular and North East in general.

Sonowal emphasised that natural gas would be very critical to fuel thermal power plants in Assam.

Meanwhile Water Resources Ministry has accorded investment clearance for implementation of five flood and erosion management projects in the state with an expenditure of Rs. 256.55 crore. Union Water Resources and Road Transport & Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari informed this to Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal.

They discussed about the construction of Express Highway along both banks of river Brahmaputra. During discussion, Gadkari asked the state government to prepare an Integrated Approach Plan involving all line departments for carrying out the project.

The union minister expressed the view that once the express highway becomes a reality, it would work as advance transport network and protection measure against flood & erosion in Assam. He also informed that funding for the IAP would be made by the union ministry of road transport & highways.