‘No one can stand as barrier to our victory’: Assam CM

Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on February 14, expressed strong confidence in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s prospects in the upcoming Assembly elections, asserting that no one can stand as a barrier to restrict the party’s victory under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Addressing the BJP’s ‘Booth Vijay Sankalp Sabha’ in Guwahati, Sarma highlighted key development initiatives undertaken by the Centre in Assam, including the recently approved underwater road-cum-rail tunnel under the Brahmaputra River connecting Gohpur and Numaligarh.

“This time we will win by making a record. What we wanted was given by the Prime Minister to Assam. Today, the Prime Minister has given us such a highway where even aircraft can land. Yesterday, the Union Cabinet allocated Rs 18,000 crore to construct an underwater tunnel in the Brahmaputra River connecting Gohpur and Numaligarh. What we could not imagine, the Prime Minister has given an unimaginable gift to Assam,” Sarma said.

He added that earlier, when he had spoken about constructing an elevated corridor in Kaziranga and an underwater tunnel, people had doubted the proposal. “Under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, no one can stand as a barrier wall in front of us to restrict our victory,” he said.

On Friday, the Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs approved the construction of a four-lane access-controlled greenfield connectivity project from Gohpur on NH-15 to Numaligarh on NH-715, including a 15.79 km road-cum-rail tunnel beneath the Brahmaputra River. The project will be developed at a total capital cost of Rs 18,662 crore under the Engineering Procurement Construction (EPC) mode.

At present, the 240-km route between Numaligarh and Gohpur via the Kaliabhomora bridge near Silghat takes around six hours and passes through Kaziranga National Park and Biswanath Town. The new project is expected to significantly reduce travel time and improve connectivity.

The proposed tunnel will be India’s first underwater road-cum-rail tunnel and the second such structure globally. It is expected to benefit Assam as well as neighbouring states including Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland by improving freight movement, reducing logistics costs, and boosting socio-economic growth in the region.

Earlier in the day, PM Modi also inaugurated the Kumar Bhaskar Varma Setu across the Brahmaputra River, constructed at a cost of around Rs 3,030 crore. The six-lane extradosed prestressed concrete bridge connects Guwahati with North Guwahati and is the first of its kind in Northeast India.

Designed considering the region’s high seismic activity, the bridge incorporates base isolation technology using friction pendulum bearings and high-performance stay cables for durability. A Bridge Health Monitoring System has also been integrated to enable real-time monitoring and enhance safety.

Additionally, the Prime Minister inaugurated and flagged off development projects worth over Rs 5,450 crore aimed at strengthening connectivity, digital infrastructure, higher education and urban mobility in the Northeast.