Staff Reporter
Guwahati: The Detailed Project Report (DPR) preparation for the proposed four-lane national highway from Baihata Chariali in the Kamrup district to Tezpur in the Sonitpur district is at an advanced stage.
Presently, the stretch from Baihata Chariali to Tezpur is a two-lane national highway, and people in the area have been demanding the upgrade of the road to a four-lane one for quite some time now. The upgrade is necessitated due to an increase in vehicular traffic, and a few points on this stretch are accident-prone, with many fatalities occurring in the recent past.
According to the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), the work for the preparation of DPR for the development of NH-15 from Baihata Chariali near Guwahati, excluding Mangaldoi Bypass, is in an advanced stage. The decisions on implementation of the project and investments for the same are taken up based on the outcome of the DPR, fulfillment of the criteria, requirement of connectivity, and synergy with the PM Gati Shakti National Master Plan.
In addition to this, the work on the Mangaldoi Bypass project on the above-mentioned stretch is in the construction stage with physical progress of 59%. Work on the 15-km Mangaldoi Bypass is going on under Engineering, Procurement, and Construction (EPC) mode, with a sanctioned cost of Rs 535.03 crore. The completion target for the bypass is March 2026, but the progress of the work has been tardy, and there is a need to speed it up.
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