India's First Underwater Road Tunnel Beneath Brahmaputra Likely To Get Union Cabinet Nod Soon: Report

Assam’s ambitious Rs 6,000-crore underwater tunnel project, India’s first under a major river, connecting Numaligarh and Gohpur, awaits Union Cabinet approval, reported The Times Of India.

Estimated to take five years to construct, the project will enhance road connectivity and boost strategic infrastructure near Arunachal Pradesh, which borders China.

“The DPR is ready and shortly the project will be placed before the Union cabinet for approval," a senior Assam government official was quoted as saying by ToI.

The Cabinet Committee on Infrastructure, chaired by the Prime Minister, will give final clearance.

The Detailed Project Report (DPR), prepared by the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways and technically reviewed by NHIDCL’s Project Appraisal and Technical Scrutiny Committee (PATS), sets the tunnel length at 33.7 km, including the connecting roadway.

The tunnel’s crown will lie about 32 metres below the Brahmaputra’s lowest bed level.

NHIDCL will execute the project, which the National Board for Wildlife has endorsed while requesting scientific studies on soil stability, groundwater, sediment patterns, and seismic impact.

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma had earlier said, “I thought this was just a dream and left it. One day, in Delhi, I was told that we can have a tunnel under the river Brahmaputra… The two banks of Brahmaputra North and south will come closer now.”

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