Corridor to increase average travel speeds by 100 percent
The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved for 135.87-km four-lane, access-controlled Guwahati–Tezpur Corridor of NH-15. It will cost Rs.8,970.20 crore, the Ministry of Road Transport and Highways said on 18 Aug.
The corridor’s scale is significant. Alongside the four-lane access-controlled highway, the project provides for 15 major bridges, 30 minor bridges, 19 flyovers, an elephant underpass (in Tezpur bypass), 46 underpasses and 210 km of service roads to maintain cross movement while developing the corridor as access-controlled. The corridor will feature five major bypasses spanning 58.7 km, diverting through traffic away from densely populated towns including Baihata Chariali, Sipajhar, Kharupetia, Dekiajuli and Tezpur, reducing congestion and improving road safety for local communities.
It is also designed to connect with 8 PM GatiShakti economic nodes, 2 social nodes, 3 tourist nodes and 7 logistics nodes, including 3 major railway stations, 2 airports and 2 waterway terminals.
The corridor, approved earlier in August, is planned to improve connectivity to economic, social and logistics nodes across Assam and Arunachal Pradesh, and will be built at and connect Baihata Chariali near Guwahati with Tezpur, excluding the 15.11-km Mangaldoi Bypass. The project will be developed under the Built-Operate-Transfer (BOT) Toll mode.
The corridor is expected to increase average travel speeds by 100 percent, reduce travel time by half, improve fuel efficiency and lower vehicle operating costs. The project also includes construction of five major bypasses totalling 58.7 km, designed to ease congestion around Baihata Chariali, Sipajhar, Kharupetia, Dekiajuli and Tezpur. It will also form an important component of the highway connectivity linking Guwahati in Assam with Itanagar and Pasighat in Arunachal Pradesh, strengthening regional connectivity and improving access across the Northeast.
The project has been planned to facilitate faster and safer movement of passengers and freight while linking farms, industries and trade routes, the Ministry said.
The new corridor is expected to improve connectivity to important tourist nodes, including Maa Kamakhaya Temple, Kaziranga National Park and Orang National Park, while also improving access to economic and social nodes across the region. That creates the possibility of stronger tourism circuits linking Guwahati, Tezpur and the wider North Assam region.
Beyond faster travel, the project brings strategic and urban mobility benefits. It envisages a 4.9 km Emergency Landing Facility (ELF) on the Tezpur Bypass, planned in coordination with the Indian Air Force, while also helping decongest the existing NH-27 East-West Corridor along the southern bank of the Brahmaputra. Fiinews.com
