Kaziranga to Congress, Modi scores big ahead of polls

Guwahati: In poll-bound Assam, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday laid the foundation stone for the elevated corridor over Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) and flagged off two Amrit Bharat trains from the state on the concluding day of his two-day Assam visit in less than a month.Modi performed Bhoomi Pujan of the Kaziranga Elevated Corridor Project (four-laning of the Kaliabor-Numaligarh section of NH-715), worth over Rs 6,950 crore, at Kaliabor in central Assam.The corridor will provide safe passage for wild animals at the Unesco World Heritage Site, Kaziranga. The project aims to improve regional connectivity while ensuring the protection of the rich biodiversity of the park, known for the one-horned rhino.During the event held at Kaliabor, Modi virtually flagged off two New Amrit Bharat Express trains — one between Guwahati and Rohtak, and the other between Dibrugarh and Lucknow.Modi did not forget to train guns at Congress, saying that Congress has no development agenda and such a Congress-led govt can never do good for Kaziranga either. “Kaziranga is not just a national park, Kaziranga is the soul of Assam. This soul is also a precious gem of India’s biodiversity.

Unesco gave it World Heritage Site status. Saving Kaziranga and its wildlife is not just environmental protection, it is also our responsibility towards Assam’s future and coming generations,” he said.Modi emphasised that Kaliabor holds an important place in Assam’s history, recalling that the great Ahom general warrior Lachit Borphukan formulated the strategy to drive out Mughal invaders from here. He expressed happiness that, under the BJP govt, this area is now becoming an important centre of connectivity.Addressing the challenges faced during floods, Modi said Kaziranga is home to one-horned rhinos and annually, when the Brahmaputra’s water level rises, this becomes the biggest challenge to save wildlife as animals venture out and cross the national highway in search of higher ground. “On this route they have to cross the national highway. At such times, rhinos, elephants and deer get stuck on the roadside. Our effort is that roads keep functioning and forests also remain safe.

Under this vision, an approximately 90km-long corridor is being prepared from Kaliabor to Numaligarh,” Modi said. He added that this will include an approximately 35km-long elevated wildlife corridor, where vehicles will pass from above and wildlife movement will continue below.Modi said this design is prepared keeping in mind the animals’ traditional movement routes. Further, he said this corridor will also improve connectivity of Upper Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.While inaugurating new trains connecting Assam, Modi said, “During Congress time, the rail budget for Assam was around Rs 2,000 crore. Now the BJP govt increased it five times and it stands at Rs 10,000 crore annually.” He said the greatest pain of the northeast has always been distance — distance of hearts and distance of places. He said, “For decades, people of the region felt that development was happening elsewhere and they were being left behind, which affected not only the economy but also trust.

”The PM said the new trains will cover important stations across Assam, West Bengal, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh, directly benefiting lakhs of passengers, also connecting Assam’s traders to new markets, and simplifying travel across different parts of the country.