The Assam cabinet on January 18 decided that the much talked about metro rail project in Guwahati would be implemented in four phases. The state cabinet decided to implement the metro rail project for Guwahati city in four phases at a cost of Rs 18,000 crore.
In the first phase, the metro rail project connecting the Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi Airport to Narangi will be implemented, while other areas of the city, including North Guwahati will be covered in a phased manner. A metro rail project office will soon be set up at the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority (GMDA) office.
Talking to media persons, state transport minister Chandramohan Patowary said, “To ease the growing traffic congestion in Guwahati, the cabinet has approved the implementation of the metro rail project. The DPR prepared by the Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority has been submitted.”
“In the first phase, metro rail will connect the airport at Borjhar with Narengi, after which the service will be extended up to North Guwahati. In later phases, Khanapara will be connected to Kamakhya with metro rail and gradually the city’s adjoining places like Sonapur, Chaygaon, etc will be brought under metro rail service,” the minister added.
Interestingly, the previous Congress government approved the project in the city to be implemented at an estimated cost of Rs 18,020 crore with four lines totalling 203 km criss-crossing the city. Then chief minister Tarun Gogoi laid the foundation stone. The Congress cabinet had also approved the formation of special purpose vehicle, the Guwahati Metro Rail Corporation Limited (GMRCL), for implementing the project.
