GUWAHATI: Keeping traffic snarls in sight, the Assam government has projects worth crores of rupees in the pipeline for greater Guwahati.
According to official sources, the population of Guwahati was around 42,500 in 1950, and the population of the city is around 11.76 lakh now. This is apart from flying people who visit the city or stay for a considerable time. With the rise in population and the number of visitors, the number of vehicles in the city keeps rising. The problem that has arisen now is that the city does not have roads wide enough to cope with the increased number of vehicles and population. Guwahati witnesses the registration of around 10,000 vehicles in two months. Keeping all these complex issues in sight, the government is going to dedicate the Guwahati-North Guwahati bridge over the Brahmaputra next year. The proposed four-lane flyover from Gauhati Club to Noonmati is at the final stage of starting the construction work. Two other flyovers on the GS Road, one at ABC Point and the other at Downtown Point, are in the pipeline. Another flyover connecting Santipur and Bharalumukh Railway Crossing is under consideration. An on-air six-lane rotary from the airport to Dharapur Chariali is also on the cards. Yet another flyover from Birubari-Lalganesh is also under consideration. Apart from all these, the preliminary work for the Guwahati Ring Road with connections to all roads from all sides of the city has been started.
According to official sources, barring MG Road, GS Road, and RG Baruah Road, Guwahati does not have any other road worth the term main thoroughfare. And the possibility of widening these roads is almost nil. To cap it all, over 10,000 Uber cabbies have been running in Guwahati for the past five years. The lack of parking lots in the city also makes roads congested with vehicles parked on either side of them. Such a situation on the roads has led the government to set up offices on the outskirts of the city. The mushroom growth of shopping malls in the city has also made the government take the decision to allow them only on the outskirts of the city.
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