GUWAHATI: Ambling along the Brahmaputra riverbank in the Fancy Bazar area in Guwahati, one will see a big structure under construction in front of the Mahendra Mohan Choudhury Hospital (MMCH). Many people are curious to know what the structure is. Many people think that the structure might be a component of the riverfront beautification project. The fact, however, is that the structure is the biggest-ever river terminal in India and is under construction.
River terminals are specialized locations along rivers developed to serve the intermodal transportation network. River terminals offer intermodal transfer facilities and facilitate interstate commerce.
The world bank-funded project, named GGT (Guwahati Gateway Ghat Terminal), is under the State Government. On behalf of the State Government, the Assam Inland Water Transport Development Society is looking after the project under the guidance of the State Transport Department. Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma laid the foundation stone for the project in May 2022. After global tendering, L&T Geo-Structure got the award for the project at a cost of Rs 304 crore. Around 30 percent of the construction work on the project is over. The government expects the project to be completed by the end of 2024. The government also expects that the river terminal will be a world-class one with state-of-the-art facilities, including a world-class jetty.
According to sources in the Directorate of Inland Water Transport, the GGT will serve as a national and international transportation network for ferries and vessels to and from Guwahati. Speaking to The Sentinel, IWT Director Partha Pegu said, “The terminal will have facilities like a passengers’ waiting hall, a VIP lounge, a cafeteria, a viewpoint, an integrated command and control centre, a parking lot, etc. It will also have provisions for solar energy. The work on the project is going on in full swing. Since the piling work of the project is to start shortly, a jack-up barge is on its way to Guwahati from Chennai via the India-Bangladesh Protocol Road. A Belgian engineering company has designed the river terminal, and IIT Roorkee and IIT Chennai have vetted (critically examined) the design. The progress of the project work is quite in sync with the conditions of the project award. The project has noise pollution as a thrust area.”
The river terminal project will be at least 240 metres away from the footpath on the river bank. The project received an NOC (no-objection certificate) from the Inland Waterways Authority of India.
The State Government took the decision to construct the river terminal in Guwahati as the Brahmaputra is the National Waterway 2. The State Government approached the World Bank for funding of the project through the Government of India, and the World Bank agreed to the proposal.
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