Modi to be third PM to visit Kaziranga National Park

Syllad | The Rising MeghalayaMarch 8, 2024

Prime Minister Narendra Modo arrived at Kaziranga National Park and Tiger Reserve (KNPTR) at around 6.05 pm on Friday, as part of his two-day visit to Assam and Arunachal Pradesh.

Modi is the third Indian premier to visit the national park. Earlier Jawarharlal Nehru visited the park in 1957 and Rajiv Gandhi visited it in 1988.

Modi took a chopper from Tezpur airport to Panbari in Golaghat from where he undertook a 13-km road show to the Assam Police guest house at Kohora range of KNPTR, where he will spend the night.

Thousands of people were waiting for the Prime Minister on both sides of the National Highway. The Prime Minister with a convoy of not more than six vehicles marched towards the police guest house waiving his hands to the public.

More than 36 cultural troupes of various ethnic groups also assembled at various parts of the National Highway to greet the Prime Minister during the roadshow.

He reached the Assam Police guest house around 6.05 pm. He will stay there overnight.

On Saturday at around 5.30 am, PM Modi will visit the national park, which is a UNESCO World Heritage site and the largest habitat for the endangered one-horned rhinos. 

No official has confirmed how the Prime Minister will travel to the national park. But sources said noth jeep safari and elephant safari are ready for him. 

At Panbari temporary helipad, Modi was received by chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal, environment and forest minister Chandra Mohan Patowary and agriculture minister Atul Bora along with other senior government officials.

Modi will spend around two hours in the park before departing for Arunachal Pradesh.

Earlier, Modi arrived at Tezpur Airport at around 4.45 pm, where he was received by Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma. State irrigation minister Ashok Singhal, chief secretary Paban Kumar Borthakur, DGP GP Singh and other senior officials of the state government were also present during the PM’s arrival at the airport.

From Tezpur, Modi took a chopper to reach Panbari in Golaghat.

Modi will participate in ‘Viksit Bharat Viksit Northeast’ programme at Itanagar at 10.30 am, where he will dedicate Sela Tunnel to the nation and launch about Rs 10,000 crore worth of UNNATI scheme. 

During the programme, PM Modi will also inaugurate, dedicate and lay the foundation stone of multiple development projects worth about Rs 55,600 crore in Manipur, Meghalaya, Nagaland, Sikkim, Tripura and Arunachal Pradesh. 

Thereafter, the Prime Minister will reach Jorhat at around 12:15 pm and will unveil the 84-foot-high magnificent statue of Lachit Borphukan, the famous General of the Royal Army of the Ahom Kingdom who defeated the Mughals. 

The project also included the construction of Lachit and Tai-Ahom Museum and a 500 seating capacity auditorium. The project is an effort to celebrate the valour of Lachit Borphukan and enhance awareness about him. It will also boost tourism and lead to the generation of employment opportunities.

At the public programme in Jorhat, Modi will inaugurate, dedicate to the nation and lay the foundation stone of multiple developmental projects strengthening the health, oil and gas, rail and housing sectors.

PM Modi will lay the foundation stone of projects under the Prime Minister’s Development Initiative for Northeastern Region (PM-DevINE) scheme including the Medical College & Hospital at Sivasagar and a Hemato-Lymphoid Centre in Guwahati. 

He will also lay the foundation stone of important projects of oil and gas sector including the capacity expansion of Digboi Refinery from 0.65 to 1 MMTPA (million metric tonnes per annum); Guwahati Refinery Expansion (1.0 to 1.2 MMTPA) along with installation of Catalytic Reforming Unit (CRU); and augmentation of Facilities at Betkutchi (Guwahati) Terminal: Indian Oil Corporation Limited, among others.

Modi will also dedicated to nation important projects like the new Medical College and Hospital at Tinsukia; and the 718 km long Barauni – Guwahati Pipeline (part of Pradhan Mantri Urja Ganga Project) built at a cost of about Rs 3,992 crore, among others. 

He will also inaugurate about 5.5 lakh homes under Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana – Gramin (PMAY-G), constructed at a total cost of about Rs 8,450 crore.

He will also dedicate to the nation important railway projects worth more than Rs 1300 crore in Assam including Dhupdhara-Chhaygaon section (part of New Bongaigaon – Guwahati Via Goalpara Doubling Project) and New Bongaigaon – Sorbhog Section (part of New Bongaigaon – Agthori Doubling Project).