India’s first underwater road-and-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra River, Assam has been approved by CCEA

India’s first underwater road-and-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra River, Assam has been approved by CCEA

¨     India’s first underwater road-and-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra River, Assam has been approved by CCEA.

¨     Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs (CCEA) has approved the 33.7-kilometre-long four-lane access-controlled Greenfield connectivity project.

¨     This project will include a 15.79-kilometre twin tube tunnel under the river.

¨     The project will be developed at a cost of ₹18,662 crore in Engineering procurement Construction (EPC) mode.

¨     The new route will link Gohpur on NH-15 with Numaligarh on NH-715 in Assam.

¨     It will reduce the distance between the two Assam cities from the current 240 kilometres to just 34 kilometres.

¨     As a result, the travel time will be cut from six hours now to just 20 minutes.

¨     The project will benefit Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and other North -Eastern States.

¨     India’s first underwater road-and-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra River, Assam will be the second underwater Road cum Rail tunnel in world.

¨   The cabinet has approved three multitracking rail projects covering 12 districts across Delhi, Haryana, Maharashtra and Karnataka.

¨     These projects include Kasara-Manmad third and fourth line; Delhi – Ambala third and fourth line; and Ballari – Hosapete third and fourth line.