Centre Committed to Development of Northeast : Roy

Guwahati, Oct 31 : The cities of the Northeast India hold tremendous potential as engines of social and economic growth and the Centre is committed to development of the region, Union Minister of State for Urban Development Saugata Roy said.

Roy, who was addressing North Eastern Urban Infracon-10 here, said the overall central assistance allocated for the region during 2009-10 was close to Rs 15,000 crore.

"But the rapid growth of urban population puts a huge strain on the physical infrastructure.

Overcrowding, paucity of affordable housing, bottlenecks in urban transport and concerns on public safety are the primary challenges to the government," he said.

Jawaharlal Nehru National Urban Renewal Mission was launched to tackle these problems and develop the cities.

Besides, the N E region Urban Develpment programme is being implemented with technical and financial assistance from Asian Development Bank.

Lamenting that the region is the least developed, Roy said the predominance of agriculture and low level income has compounded the situation.