Will seek inclusion of Silchar in Smart City list: Sarbananda Sonowal

SILCHAR: At the closing ceremony of the three-day Namami Barak festival on Monday, chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal said the state government is pushing for the inclusion of Silchar on the list of cities being considered for being developed as Smart Cities.
“I know people here are unhappy that the city was not included in the first list. However, the state government has sent a strong proposal to New Delhi to include Silchar in the list,” Sonowal said.Silchar is the second most populated city in the state and an important business hub in south Assam.
Lauding the Namami Barak festival, the chief minister said the riverine fest was an effort to showcase the local cultural heritage and attract tourists and investors to the region. “The festival also aimed at the development of the Barak and Brahmaputra valleys,” he added.
Speaking at the event, Union minister of state for heavy industries and public enterprises Babul Supriyo said the government was trying its best to reopen the Cachar Paper Mill owned by the state-run Hindustan Paper Corporation Limited (HPCL). Calling it a “complicated” issue, he added that the mill has sustained a loss of Rs 1,800 crore due to large-scale corruption and irregularities.
Production in Cachar Paper Mill and Nagaon Paper Mill of the HPCL has been stopped for close to two years and employees haven’t received their salaries for a year now.