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Rotary to be ready by Feb 2011

By Staff Reporter

GUWAHATI, Sept 18 � The rotary construction project at the TC School traffic point � initiated in the beginning of 2007 to ease vehicular traffic congestion on the arterial GNB Road � would be completed by February 2011.

The need for an effective traffic management mechanism was felt since long on the GNB Road that remains chock-a-block on all working days. This creates immense problems for the people, especially for those who travel on the GNB Road and its connecting roads like the MRD Road, MC Road and B Barooah Road. Other two major arterial roads of the city, the GS Road and the RG Baruah Road are also affected by severe traffic snarl on the GNB Road and vice versa.

Construction of the traffic rotary and an alternative road connecting Ambari with Barowari is supposed to ease the vehicular rush at Chandmari-Ambari-Reserve Bank point, Uzanbazar, and B Barooah Road. The MC Road connecting the Guwahati Club point with Chenikuthi and Barowari areas would be made one way.

The foundation stone of the traffic rotary project was laid by Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi in the year 2007. The project, however, did not have a smooth sailing due to several court cases over acquisition of railway land and unauthorized encroachments.

�The Rs 8-crore project has proposed to construct a central rotary of around 30-meter diameter with four arm connections. Three of the proposed arms include the existing GNB Road on the east and the west sides and the B Barua Road on the southern side. The northern arm was proposed over the abandoned railway track that was shifted eastwards later,� said the executive engineer, PWD, City Division I. Total 6.6 bighas of land has been taken from the railways for this project.

�Work has been expedited to complete the project by February next year, subject to timely clearance of certain bottlenecks,� he said.

�Being constructed on a marshy land, the northern arm of the rotary entailed massive earth-filling work. This four-lane road would connect the GNB Road, Ambari with the CK Agarwala Road from the backside of Kamrup Academy. Provision is there to make it a six-lane road in future besides widening of the existing GNB and CK Agarwala Road,� he mentioned.

Around 40 per cent of the work is nearing completion at Ambari. Out of total 240 metre-long earth work, 140 metre excavation, and filling has been completed. Moreover, 336 metre RCC drain work on the northern arm has been completed out of a total length of 550 metre. The footpath-cum-drain on the TC School side has already been completed, as per the PWD sources.

In the beginning, the project faced many hurdles in the form of litigations in the Gauhati High Court and the Supreme Court by the Railway authorities over land ownership besides court cases by unauthorized encroachers. Finally as per the apex court's instruction to solve the issue through negotiations, the railway authorities agreed to hand over the land on lease for 35 years at a cost of Rs 537.99 lakh. The northern arm of the rotary was shifted towards the eastern side of the abandoned railway track. After the disposal of the encroachment cases, the eviction drive was completed in July 2010.

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