GUWAHATI: Land and real estate prices in North Guwahati are all set to rise considerably with the new proposed bridge which will connect Guwahati to North Guwahati, feel experts.
The construction work for the long pending, six-lane bridge is set to begin within the next few months. Officials informed that it will connect Bharalumukh in Guwahati to Abhayapur in North Guwahati which is merely three kilometres from the Doul Govinda Temple.
The increased connectivity will be one of the major reasons which will propel the real estate prices to skyrocket in North Guwahati, said real estate developers.
“With the better connectivity, the land prices will definitely shoot up in North Guwahati. The construction of the proposed bridge will certainly help to develop the real estate scenario in North Guwahati,” Ranel Das, a Guwahati-based architect told G Plus.
He added that the location of the bridge will also play a vital role in determining the land prices in North Guwahati.
“It might also happen that the areas surrounding the bridge might get a boost in terms of real estate but the areas might not get too affected. But overall, it is certainly going to help the people of Guwahati as with the bridge becoming operational, it will take hardly any time to reach North Guwahati from the major locations of Guwahati,” informed Das.
Experts in the field of real estate mentioned that it is a welcome move by the state government which has finally decided to begin the construction of the proposed bridge. However, they also said that the river communication and ferry services will take a hit once the construction of the bridge is complete.
On the other hand, throwing light on the difference in land prices between Guwahati and North Guwahati, Ratul Baruah, a Mouzadar and long-time resident of North Guwahati said that currently a bigha of land in North Guwahati costs Rs 40- 50 lakhs whereas in Guwahati, the current price of one bigha of prime land in Guwahati is around Rs 4 crores.
With the construction of the proposed bridge over the Brahmaputra River, the price of land in North Guwahati is expected to reach in crores of rupees, altering the scene of real estate in North Guwahati completely.
S. Borooah, a real estate developer who currently builds residential flats in Guwahati opined, “North Guwahati is where Guwahati needs to expand. Its proximity to the airport puts it at a huge advantage location-wise. Plus, given that Guwahati has just no breathing space for expansion, it is only logical that the expansion takes place at North Guwahati.”
Another real estate developer, BK Sarma, said that development of North Guwahati has been long pending.
“It is just surprising that the north bank of the Brahmaputra, across from Guwahati, has remained so rustic as against the rapid urbanization of Guwahati itself. It is this bridge that will allow North Guwahati to change completely and come at par with Guwahati itself,” he said.
Biju Das, a resident of Guwahati, who had purchased some land at North Guwahati a few years ago to build a farmhouse, was thrilled with the announce of the construction of the bridge. He said that if the bridge is completed on time, he would be happy to make the pristine surroundings of North Guwahati his place of residence as commuting to Guwahati for work would hardly take time. “It would allow me to live in Guwahati virtually and yet live in peace at the same time,” he added tongue-in-cheek.
Govt takes up the construction after the boat capsize incident
A day after a mechanized boat sank in the Brahmaputra, state minister Himanta Biswa Sarma said that the state government will take the matter as a priority to commence work on the six-lane bridge over Brahmaputra connecting North Guwahati.
The proposed bridge announced by Sarma will be 1.6 km long, of which 1.24 km will be designed as a multi-span extradosed bridge – a technology superior to conventional bridge design in terms of safety and aesthetics.
The bridge has been on the state government’s agenda for a very long time now. It was proposed 40 years ago and saw various plans in the past 14 years but none of them saw the light of the day.
The proposed bridge will be a six-lane carriage-way having overall width of about 33 meters. The elevated road will start from AT Road (Near Bhootnath) and will meet at Machkhowa on MG Road on Guwahati side.
The main bridge over river will start forming a Y-junction between the elevated road and the bridge.
The approach road will meet at Gauripur on NH 31 (East-West Corridor) on North Guwahati side.
“We have received approval for external aid from the finance ministry. We will avail a loan of Rs 2,000 crores from the BRICS New Development Bank. IIT-Guwahati has finalized the design. We hope to start construction of the bridge within the next six months and complete it by 2022,” Sarma told the media.
Until the bridge is completed, the government will consider all options for providing a safer mode of transport for the people, he added.
The Guwahati Metropolitan Development Authority had engaged a Singapore-based company - SMEC Consultant Group - to prepare the detailed project report (DPR) and to undertake the feasibility study for the project.
The bridge will prove to be a huge relief for the city residents as it will reduce the travelling time by road via the current Saraighat Bridge.
