First High-Speed Road Corridor in Northeast Proposed

Staff Reporter

Guwahati: High-speed road corridors have come up in different states in the country. Significantly, the northeast region is yet to witness such developments in the national highway system.

Of late, however, both the Centre and Assam governments are planning to construct the NE region’s first high-speed road corridor passing through Assam and Meghalaya.

According to information from the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways (MoRTH), a total of 572 km of four-lane and higher configuration NHs have been constructed in Assam during the past five years, which was the highest among the NE states. But no construction of any high-speed road corridors has been taken up in Assam or any other NE state.

In the past five years, the highest length of 994 km of high-speed road corridors or super express highways was constructed in Rajasthan, followed by Haryana with 568 km and Gujarat with 448 km of such roads. A few other states that have witnessed the growth of such road infrastructure, like Madhya Pradesh with 345 km, Karnataka with 226 km, Andhra Pradesh with 214 km, Odisha with 163 km, Telangana with 131 km, Punjab with 123 km, and Uttar Pradesh with 109 km, etc.

For Assam, a proposal has been made for the construction of a super express highway between Guwahati and Silchar, via Barapani in Meghalaya. The new expressway will be on a different alignment from the existing NH from Guwahati to Silchar through Barapani.

According to sources of National Highways and Infrastructure Development Corporation Ltd. (NHIDCL) in Shillong, preparation of the detailed project report (DPR) for the portion from Barapani to Silchar has already been started. Assam Chief Minister Dr Himanta Biswa Sarma has taken up the matter with the central government, as the existing road from Guwahati to Silchar via Barapani and Jowai is facing many issues in the Meghalaya portion, with frequent landslides affecting the passage of vehicles. The proposed expressway, to be constructed on a new alignment, is expected to do away with such hurdles and cut down the travel time to six hours.  

Another proposal in the pipeline is a new high-speed road corridor connecting Guwahati with Dibrugarh.

Also Read: Central Government Approves 160-Km High-Speed Corridor to Boost Connectivity in Northeast India

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