HT Bureau
GUWAHATI, Aug 30: Chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Wednesday said his government will undertake the construction of 1,000 bridges across the state. Inaugurating a 2.6-km-long flyover from Kamakhya Gate to Maligaon in Guwahati, touted to be the longest in Assam, Sarma said the state government has completed 842 small and big bridges in recent times.
“I am happy to announce that our government will build 1,000 bridges across the state. All these projects will be completed by 2026. People say that Guwahati is the gateway to the Northeast, but we want to make it the gateway to South East Asia,” Sarma said.
“Today we are opening the Nilachal Flyover to the public. This has been constructed on one of the busiest roads of Guwahati, and it was a huge challenge for the PWD to complete on time,” he said.
The state PWD carried out the project at an investment of Rs 420 crore.
The bridge has been constructed using concrete slabs and steel composite guard. 18,000 metric tons of cement, 20,000 cubic metric tons of sand and 7,500 metric tons of steel have gone into the construction of this flyover.
The chief minister also listed out around a dozen other road projects in Guwahati and other towns of Assam, which are in different stages of planning and execution.
“At present, work on 22 big projects like flyovers and bridges over the Brahmaputra is underway. Out of these, 21 are at the last stage of completion,” he said.
The chief minister also said that the government has plans to build a flyover connecting the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport with the Kamakhya Mandir. There are also plans to ease the communication from the Kamakhya Mandir to the last point of Pandu.
The new botanical garden coming up at Fancy Bazar and a park under construction at the site of the old deputy commissioner’s office in Panbazar will be made open to the public before the Durga Puja celebrations this year.
Moreover, the government is also planning to construct a ropeway connecting the Kamakhya Railway Station with the Kamakhya Temple atop the Nilachal Hills.
The chief minister also said that an additional 20,000 people in the city will be able to avail piped water within a few days. New initiatives have been taken to complete and implement the water supply project in West Guwahati. This project has been partially completed so far.
Guwahati shall not limit itself to being recognised as the “gateway to Northeast” but would gain recognition as the “gateway to Southeast Asia” in days to come, the chief minister added.
Wednesday’s event was also attended by Assam minister of housing & urban affairs Ashok Singhal, Member of Parliament Queen Ojha, Members of Legislative Assembly Atul Bora, Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Ramendra Narayan Kalita, chief executive member of Karbi Anglong Autonomous Council Tuliram Ronghang, Mayor of Guwahati Municipal Corporation Mrigen Sarania, director general of police GP Singh, along with a host of other dignitaries. (With inputs from PTI)
