Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today dedicated the newly expanded six-lane Basistha-Jalukbari stretch of the Guwahati Bypass to the people. This is expected to decongest Guwahati city further for almost another decade.
The six-lane Khanapara-Jalukbari stretch of Guwahati Bypass has been built at a cost of Rs 300 crore and launched almost 5-months ahead of the stipulated time of completion.
The 16.448-kilometre project includes four flyovers at Basistha, Lokhra, Gorchuk and Boragaon and a vehicular underpass at Lalmati.
The road has been converted from four lanes to six lanes (3 lanes on each side) with service lanes on both sides with roadside drains.
The budgets for the four flyovers are: Boragaon – Rs 25.32 crore; Gorchuk – Rs 25.64 crore; Lokhra- Rs 31.83 crore and Basistha- Rs 28.89 crore.
In his address on the ocassion, CM Himanta Biswa Sarma said, “The NHAI is constructing the East-West Corridor from Silchar to Sreerampur, the Guwahati Bypass also comes under it. Earlier it was 4-lane and then we had witnessed severe traffic snarls in the junction points at Boragaon, Gorchuk, Lokhora and Basistha. Sometimes it took 45 minutes to reach from Jalukbari to Khanapara, sometimes the travel time exceeded upto an hour. The rush was comparatively high at Lokhra and Gorchuk. Aware of this situation, PM Modi and Union Minister of Road Transport and Highways Nitin Gadkari had approved a project for converting the Khanapara to Jalukbari stretch which is 17-km to 6 lanes. Almost Rs 45 crore was sanctioned and it included 6 laning of 17-km of roads and 4 flyovers and 2 underpass at Jayanagar and Beharbari. Today the whole stretch, Basistha flyover and the 2 bypass have been opened for the public, the other flyovers are already in use by the public.”
