Guwahati, Mar 18 (PTI) Assam Chief Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Tuesday said that the project cost of the much-talked-about Jorhat-Majuli bridge over Brahmaputra has been revised to Rs 1,019.17 crore, an escalation of nearly Rs 94 crore from the previous estimation.
The construction work of the two-lane bridge has been stalled since September last year after its contractor UP State Bridge Corporation Ltd (UPSBCL) left the site. No reason has been made public for leaving the work midway.
“The Revised Cost Estimate for the construction of the 2 lane bridge connecting Majuli and Jorhat over Brahmaputra has been approved by @MORTHIndia,” Sarma said in a post on X.
The Centre has sanctioned a revised cost of Rs 1,019.17 crore for completing this crucial link to the world’s largest river island, he added.
The CM also shared the Office Memorandum, dated March 17, related to this new cost issued by the Ministry of Road Transport & Highways.
For construction of the 8.25 km Majuli-Jorhat bridge, including immediate approaches over Brahmaputra on NH-715K at Dakshinpat in Majuli, the Union Ministry of Road Transport and Highways had earlier sanctioned Rs 925.47 crore.
In November 2021, Sarma had launched the construction works of the bridge over the Brahmaputra. The state government had constituted a cabinet committee to regularly monitor the progress of the project, which was scheduled to be commissioned by November 2025.
To connect Majuli with the mainland, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari had in February 2016 laid the foundation of a bridge over the Brahmaputra connecting Jorhat on the south bank and Lakhimpur on the north bank via the river island.
For the same project, Prime Minister Narendra Modi before the state Assembly polls in February 2021 again laid the foundation stone for an eight-km-long Jorhat-Majuli bridge. PTI TR TR RG
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