NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday landed at the Emergency Landing Facility on the Moran Bypass in Dibrugarh as part of his day-long visit to Assam.He was received at the Chabua airfield by Assam governor Lakshman Prasad Acharya, chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma, Union minister Sarbananda Sonowal and senior state government officials.
Soon after landing, the Prime Minister witnessed an aerial display by the Indian Air Force at the Emergency Landing Facility. Sukhoi Su-30MKI and Rafale fighter jets, along with transport aircraft and helicopters, carried out landings, take-offs and a fly-past in his presence. Officials said the aircraft operations were part of a demonstration of the newly developed facility.The Emergency Landing Facility is the first of its kind in the Northeast. Designed and constructed in coordination with the Indian Air Force, it supports both military and civilian aircraft during emergencies. The facility can handle fighter aircraft up to 40 tonnes and transport aircraft up to 74 tonnes maximum take-off weight. It is expected to play a critical role in disaster response and strategic operations in the region.After the air display, the Prime Minister departed for Guwahati aboard a C-130 aircraft.During his visit, PM Modi will inspect and inaugurate several major development projects in the state. At around 1 PM, he will inspect the newly built Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu across the Brahmaputra River, which connects Guwahati with North Guwahati. The six-lane extradosed prestressed concrete bridge has been constructed at a cost of approximately Rs 3,030 crore and is the first extradosed bridge in Northeast India. The bridge is expected to reduce travel time between Guwahati and North Guwahati to about seven minutes.Built in a seismically sensitive zone, the bridge incorporates base isolation using friction pendulum bearings. High-performance stay cables and a Bridge Health Monitoring System have been installed to ensure structural durability, real-time monitoring and enhanced safety.Later in the day, at Lachit Ghat in Guwahati, the Prime Minister will inaugurate and flag off development projects worth over Rs 5,450 crore aimed at strengthening connectivity, digital infrastructure, higher education and urban mobility in the Northeast.He will inaugurate the National Data Centre for the Northeastern Region at Amingaon in Kamrup district. The facility, with a total sanctioned load of 8.5 MW and an average rack capacity of 10 kW, will host mission-critical government applications and function as a disaster recovery centre for other national data centres. The project aligns with the Digital India initiative and aims to enhance secure and reliable digital infrastructure in the region.The Prime Minister will also inaugurate the temporary campus of the Indian Institute of Management Guwahati, a move expected to boost higher and management education in the Northeast.In addition, he will flag off 225 electric buses under the PM-eBus Sewa Scheme across four cities: Guwahati, Nagpur, Bhavnagar and Chandigarh. Of these, 100 buses will operate in Guwahati. The rollout is expected to benefit over 50 lakh citizens by providing clean, affordable and reliable public transport services.PM Modi will also address the BJP’s “Booth Sanmilan” meeting at the Veterinary College Field in Khanapara, where more than 86,000 booth-level party workers are expected to attend. Security has been tightened in Guwahati ahead of the visit.
