Old jail in Guwahati's business heart to turn green

Our Staff Reporter

Guwahati, July 2: Quashing the previous government’s move to build a commercial hub at the old jail complex located at Fancy Bazar in Guwahati, the new BJP-led State government has come up with a plan to set up a botanical garden at the 60-bigha plot.

Announcing this, Guwahati Development department minister Himanta Biswa Sarma today said the land development work at the site will begin in the next three months.

“We hope to complete the project in three years. The garden will be a hub of medical plants, herbs and trees peculiar to the State. There will also be facilities for jogging and cycling. It will be a tural setting and no modern equipment – like fountains etc - will be used,” Sarma said.

After shifting the jail to Gorchuk, the then Congress government had chalked out plans to build a commercial complex at the site through PPP mode. The project was estimated at Rs 400 crore. Pre-bids were also called and six to seven companies, including some from abroad, had evinced interest in the project.

The GMDA was asked to implement the project and the agency would have earned Rs 150 crore as revenue from it.

However, the new GDD minister has pointed to commercial complexes mushrooming across the city. “We need to make the city greener. That is why we have decided to set up a botanical garden. The proposed garden will be of intertiol standards,” Sarma said.