Guwahati: Pandu ship repair facility in the city is expected to be completed by 2024 as the construction of concerned project supposes to commence from May next year, informed Union ports, shipping & waterways and AYUSH minister Sarbananda Sonowal after meeting top officials of Cochin shipyard limited, IIT Madras and the inland waterways authority of India (IWAI).
Mentionable is that the announcement of Pandu ship repair facility, near to the historic Sharaighat bridge over mighty Brahmaputra river, was made on 26 August 2021 and it is going to be a major contributor to the economic resurgence of northeast India. Its design and implementation have been done jointly by IWAI and Cochin shipyard limited.
The technical support is being provided by IIT Madras where the slipway will be developed on 3.67 acre of land provided by Assam government. Sonowal
further expounded that the future progress of the region lies in the development of the waterways.
The work has already started on national waterway 2 (Brahmaputra) and also national waterway 6 (Barak) with an aim to facilitate cargo & passenger traffic as well as tourist jetties. In order to achieve a motorable waterway, dredging of both the important rivers are to be done so that adequate depth can be achieved for the vessel movement.
“Economic prosperity can be reinvigorated by developing our rivers as waterways for smooth & swift movement of cargo and passengers. It will not only boost the export sector of the region, but also become a major multiplier in the employment generation,” said Sonowal adding that all the north-eastern State governments have extended support to the initiative.
