Assam’s capital city Guwahati might have metro rail in the near future.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi on Thursday said that the Central Government has accepted the State Government’s proposal to have metro rail in the capital city and added that the Centre had already sanctioned Rs 25 crore to conduct feasibility study and prepare a Detailed Project Report (DPR) in this regard.
Gogoi said that the metro rail project is likely to cost about Rs 14,000 crore and that it would be implemented in a phased manner. “The first phase of the project will have 65 kms of stretch of the city connected with metro rail. While the first phase will connect a stretch from lGBI airport near Guwahati to Narengi, the second phase will connect Paltan Bazar area to Khanapara in the city,” he said, adding that the third phase will connect the stretch between Khanapara to Jalukbari area.
The Chief Minister, however, said that it would take time to complete the project. “Normally in other State these kinds of projects take a minimum of five to six years. However, in Assam it will take more time as we have less working days due to rains,” Gogoi said. He said that the metro rail project will help easing the ever-increasing traffic congestion in the city.
Meanwhile, the Chief Minister also said that the Government is now trying to develop the river transport system which has been largely ignored all these years. “There is tremendous scope for developing the river transport. large number of people use the rivers for transportation across the State almost daily and we are going to develop the river transport system,” he said.
The Chief Minister also said that the Government is now planning to develop some small townships around Guwahati so that the population load on Guwahati lessens. “We are also planning to develop some mass rapid transport system to connect to these small townships with Guwahati,”he added.