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Arunachal Govt keen on developing border areas, tourism sector: Mein

Itanagar: Arunachal Pradesh deputy chief minister Chowna Mein on Friday said that the state government has been giving keen emphasis on developing the border areas of the state and the same would be expedited in the days to come.

“During the past few years we have witnessed phenomenal developmental activities in border areas and we propose to accelerate its pace by providing proper connectivity, water supply, electricity, and better health and education infrastructure to these places,” Mein said.

The deputy chief minister said the state government would be developing a series of model villages and would also take up stand-alone micro-hydels near international borders soon.

He was addressing the inaugural function of the deputy commissioner’s conference on sustainable development goals (SDGs) here.

The event was also attended by Union Minister for tourism, culture and DoNER, G Kishan Reddy, Jal Shakti minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat and chief minister Pema Khandu.

Mein said tourism is going to be a game changer for Arunachal Pradesh in the future and would contribute immensely in the income generating activities.

The state government is committed towards providing a better and tourist friendly infrastructure and would look for the support of the tourism ministry not only for developing the infrastructures but also guiding us on attracting domestic and foreign tourists, he said.

Further highlighting the state’s potential in hydropower, the deputy chief minister said the Arunachal Pradesh government has taken a conscious decision to allot more projects to the Central Public Sector Undertakings (CPSU).

“We recently allotted the Nafra and New Melling projects to the North Eastern Electric Power Corporation Limited (NEEPCO) and are working on handing over more such projects to the CPSUs,” he said while adding that the government is committed toward harnessing the hydropower potential of the state.

The deputy chief minister also thanked the union ministers for visiting Arunachal and laying the foundation for the development of the pilgrimage site at Parashuram Kund and dedicating three water projects under the Jal Jeevan Mission (JJM) to the people of the state respectively.