NEW DELHI: The project cost for a proposed bridge connecting Jorhat with Majuli island in Assam and construction of a 20 km road was brought down significantly after the road ministry effected a redesign and restructuring of the project. While in August 2019 the project was estimated at Rs 1,800 crore, the road ministry reduced the width of the 6.8 km bridge and included construction of only 1.2 km approach road to bring down the cost with the project finally being bid out at Rs 687 crore.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Union road transport minister Nitin Gadkari are scheduled to lay the foundation stone for this politically sensitive project on Wednesday ahead of the upcoming assembly election. Sources said this was a political promise that the chief minister Sarbananda Sonowal had made to the people of the world’s largest inhabited river island and hence starting work before the election is crucial for the BJP government.
“We reviewed the project at different stages of preparation and it helped us in the best price discovery. Our focus is now to reduce the cost of projects by going for innovative solutions. The bridge is crucial for people living on the island,” Gadkari told TOI.
Sources said the ministry prioritised the building of the two-lane bridge over the other proposed roads considering that the bridge construction will take at least four years. “We can subsequently take up road projects in the next two years so that the roads would be ready by the time the bridge becomes operational,” said a ministry official.
He added that in 2018, the state government had proposed construction of the 6.8 km bridge and around 140 km of road at a cost of Rs 8,000 crore and later it was decided to take up construction of the four-lane bridge over Brahmaputra and a 20 km road in August 2019 at Rs 2,494 crore. Subsequently, the ministry brought down the width of the bridge to two lanes and proposed to build 20 km of road at Rs 1,800 crore. “Finally, a decision was taken to build the bridge and only 1.2 km approach road. But even then the estimated cost was Rs 1,092 crore. The project underwent several reviews and finally it was awarded at Rs 687 crore to UP Bridge Corporation,” said the official.