Our Bureau
Guwahati
India’s government has greenlit a major project to construct the country’s first underwater tunnel for both road and rail traffic under the Brahmaputra River in Assam. The Rs 18,662 crore initiative connects Gohpur on NH-15 to Numaligarh on NH-715, spanning 33.7 km with a 15.79 km twin-tube section.
The tunnel design includes two parallel tubes, each with two lanes for vehicles in one direction, built 32 meters below the riverbed. One tube will have space for a single railway track; trains will run there without road traffic at the same time. Tubes connect every 500 meters for safety and access.
Currently, the route between these points covers 240 km via existing bridges, taking up to six hours through areas like Kaziranga National Park. The new corridor will shorten it to about 34 km and cut travel to under two hours, or even 20 minutes in ideal conditions.
Work will follow an engineering, procurement, and construction model, funded by the road transport, railways, and defense ministries. Completion will link Assam better to Arunachal Pradesh and Nagaland, easing freight movement and lowering logistics costs.
