Photo Courtesy: India Today Group
Guwahati: The National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited has opened tenders for the Gohpur-Numaligarh project. This massive undertaking creates a tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra River. It links NH-15 at Gohpur with NH-715 at Numaligarh through a 33.77-km four-lane corridor. The path includes a 15.79-km twin-tube tunnel, with one tube carrying railway lines.
Construction should finish in five years. Assam BJP spokesperson Kamal Kumar Medhi announced the plan at a Thursday press briefing in Guwahati. The project utilizes the Engineering, Procurement and Construction model. Total costs hit Rs 18,662.02 crore, with Rs 11,982.36 crore for civil works and Rs 716.65 crore for land. Medhi said the project "would transform connectivity and provide a major boost to commerce, industry, tourism and logistics in Assam and the wider Northeast."
The route cuts travel distance from 240 km to 34 km. Commuters will save hours. Travel time drops from five or six hours down to roughly 20 minutes. The design includes a 1.26-km cut-and-cover road section and four km of cut-and-cover rail. It serves as India's first integrated road-and-rail underwater tunnel.
Regional connectivity will expand rapidly. The corridor ties into the Rangiya-Murkongselek railway and the Furkating-Mariani Loop Line. It creates direct links for Numaligarh, Gohpur, Tezpur, Dibrugarh and Itanagar. Transit to Donyi Polo Hollongi and Tezpur airports gets faster. Stations at Numaligarh, Gohpur, Golaghat Town and Simaluguri Junction gain access, alongside waterway terminals at Biswanath Ghat and Tezpur.
Economic benefits reach 11 economic hubs, three social sites, two tourism spots and eight logistics centers. Industrial areas like Jorhat, Titabor, Nagaon, Demow, Sivasagar, Biswanath and Jogighopa will see improved goods movement. Tourism at Kaziranga National Park and the Deopahar Archaeological Site will get a lift. Strategic ties to Dima Hasao, Udalguri and Darrang strengthen. The corridor offers a resilient path for defense supplies and border personnel. Daily traffic estimates sit at 4,680 passenger car units. Building it creates 80 lakh person-days of work.
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