IMPHAL, January 2: A status report on the projects implemented in the state under the Central funding is being sought by the Planning Commission of India.
From the subsequent empowering of a committee for monitoring infrastructure development projects including roads, rail, airports, telecom and power in the northeastern region, it has been deemed important for the concerned authorities of the central government to expedite the ongoing central sponsored projects in the north east.
The chief ministers of the north east states are also to table the progress of the central sponsored works in their respective states during a meeting scheduled on January 20, 2014 at New Delhi.
A detailed discussion on the identified issues will be chaired by the Prime Minister on the said date. The union ministers in concern will also be present at the meeting with the objective that this meeting will also aid in resolving various problems responsible for the slow progress of the central sponsored programs.
The projects implemented in Manipur for review are identified as the progress of the railway line from Jiribam-Tupul-Imphal, road contruction from Jiribam-Imphal, transmission lines of power, telecommunication and utilization of the existing capacity and extension of Imphal airport to an international status, informed a source.
According to the present status of central projects in Manipur, the targeted date of completion of the Jiribam-Imphal 111 kilometre long railway line is scheduled for 2017. However, at the present rate of funding, the completion date has been differed to March 2022 as the security scenario of the State is volatile, said the source.
For the Jiribam-Imphal highway, NH-53 needs expeditious completion, but 35 km are in bad condition and 26 km are in very bad condition. For the power scenario, there is need for building strong transmission capacities to transmit from hydro and gas based power including the Palatnana- Silchar transmission line.
For the civil aviation, the ministry of civil aviation informed that all the operational airports I the northeast have been provided with night landing facilities. Apart from Guwahati, which is already an international airport, Imphal and Agartala are being considered for declaration as international airports.
The same has been communicated to the responsible departments by the state Planning Department and was to be submitted to the department by December 20, 2013.