DIBRUGARH/GUWAHATI: PM Narendra Modi landed on the North-East’s first emergency landing facility, a highway airstrip at Moran in Assam’s Dibrugarh district, and rolled out a package of infrastructure projects worth more than Rs 5,500 crore across the pollbound state, spanning defence preparedness, connectivity, education and digital capacity.Modi flew in from Chabua airfield on Saturday aboard an IAF C-130J, touching down on the 4.2km-long specially reinforced stretch of the Moran bypass built at a cost of Rs 100 crore. Designed for dual civil-military use, the emergency landing facility doubles as a national highway and can serve as a backup to Dibrugarh airport during natural disasters or conflict.Officials said the strip can handle fighter aircraft up to 40 tonnes and transport planes up to 74 tonnes maximum take-off weight, strengthening rapid de-ployment and relief operations in a sensitive region close to the Chinese border.The Prime Minister’s landing was followed by a 40-minute IAF aerial display underscoring the strip’s operational readiness. Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Rafale fighters conducted takeoffs and landings, An-32 transports showcased short-field operations, and advanced light helicopters simulated humanitarian assistance and disaster relief missions. Garud Commandos rappelled onto the strip in a demonstration.Later in Guwahati, Modi inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu, a six-lane, 7.75km concrete bridge over the Brahmaputra built at a cost of Rs 3,030 crore. The bridge, the first of its kind in the North-east, cuts travel time between Guwahati and North Guwahati to about seven minutes from roughly 30 minutes via the Saraighat bridge. Designed for high seismicity, it uses friction pendulum bearings and a real-time bridge health monitoring system. Modi had laid the foundation stone in Feb 2019.At Lachit Ghat, the PM unveiled the temporary campus of IIM Guwahati, the region’s second IIM and India’s 22nd. The Rs 555-crore permanent campus will be built at Palasbari near Guwahati, with classes beginning from a transit campus at Tech City, Bongora, under mentorship of IIM Ahmedabad.He also inaugurated NE’s National Data Centre at Amingaon in Kamrup, a Rs 348-crore facility with an 8.5-MW sanctioned load and advanced rack capacity to host mission-critical govt applications and serve as a disaster recovery hub under Digital India. A fleet of electric buses and other connectivity projects were also launched.
