Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday, February 14, made a historic touchdown on the Northeast’s first highway airstrip in Assam’s Dibrugarh. He landed at the Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) on the Moran bypass around 10.45 am and witnessed a 40-minute aerial display of fighter jets, transport aircraft, and helicopters.
The specially designed 4.2-kilometer-long stretch of the national highway in Assam has been developed to support the landing and take-off of military and civil aircraft during emergencies. PM Modi is on a one-day visit to the poll-bound state and will later inaugurate key development projects worth Rs 5,500 crore.
Assam CM welcomes PM Modi at Chabua airfield
PM Modi was received by Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, Union Minister Sarbananda Sonowal, and other senior officials as he arrived at the Chabua airfield earlier in the day.
The Prime Minister later boarded an Indian Air Force C-130J aircraft to travel to the ELF in Dibrugarh. He landed at the facility, built for Rs 100 crore, around 10.45 am. Following the event, PM Modi will depart for Guwahati to launch multiple developmental projects worth Rs 5,500 crore.
Indian Air Force aircraft’s air display at ELF
The ELF is strategically important as the LAC in Arunachal Pradesh is just a few hundred km away. According to an official statement, this landing facility will serve as a critical asset for emergency landing, “enabling quick deployment of rescue and relief operations during natural disasters or strategic requirements in the Northeast.”
PM Modi to launch key projects in Assam
The Prime Minister will inaugurate multiple key projects in Assam later on Saturday aimed at providing a significant boost to development in the north-eastern region. Assam will get its first extradosed bridge, which will slash travel time between Guwahati and North Guwahati to just seven minutes. The Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu across the River Brahmaputra will be built at a cost of around Rs 3,030 crore.
The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the National Data Centre in Assam’s Kamrup district and IIM Guwahati for the north-eastern region. Additionally, PM Modi will flag off 225 electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme in Guwahati (100), Nagpur (50), Bhavnagar (50), and Chandigarh (25).
