News Brief
India's First Under-River Four-Lane Road Tunnel In Assam: DPR Prepared, Project Expected To Take Five Years Post-Award
A tunnel (Representational image)
A four-lane tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra River is being planned to connect Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam, marking India's first-ever road tunnel under a major river.
The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for the proposed tunnel has been completed and technically appraised by the Project Appraisal and Technical Scrutiny Committee (PATSC) under the National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL).
The tunnel is expected to be completed in five years after the award of the project.
The project involves the construction of India's first-ever road tunnel beneath a major river. The four-lane tunnel under the Brahmaputra will connect Gohpur and Numaligarh in Assam, reducing travel time from 6.5 hours to just 30 minutes by shortening the distance from 240 km to 34 km.
"The Detailed Project Report (DPR) for construction of underwater four-lane Tunnel Connectivity across river Brahmaputra between Gohpur (on NH-15) and Numaligarh (on NH-715) in the State of Assam has been prepared and technically appraised by Project Appraisal and Technical Scrutiny Committee (PATSC) in National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Limited (NHIDCL)," Union Road Transport and Highways Minister Nitin Gadkari said in a written reply to a question in the Lok Sabha on Thursday (20 March).
"Considering the scale and complexity of the project, a construction period of five years is envisaged after award of the project," he added.
The minister's response comes days after the Network Planning Group (NPG), chaired by DPIIT Joint Secretary Pankaj Kumar, on 14 March evaluated the infrastructure projects in the Road, Railway, and Metro sectors in the country, including the under-river road tunnel in Assam.
