India plans country’s first underwater road-cum-rail tunnels in Assam

18 May 2022 CW Team

The road and railway ministries and the Border Road Organisation (BRO) have come on board for construction of the country’s first underwater road-cum-rail tunnels across the mighty Brahmaputra in Assam. The underwater tunnel project is expected to be an engineering marvel and will also strategically reduce travel time between Assam and Arunachal Pradesh. Currently, there are five bridges across the Brahmaputra.

As per the plan, there will be three parallel tunnels – one for road, another for rail and the third one for emergency use. The tunnels will be of 9.8 km each. This will be the first project where integrated tunnel construction will be undertaken. These tunnels will be inter-connected with cross passage for evacuation in case of any emergency.

The strategic multi-modal transportation system aims to integrate the rail and highway network through the Jamugurihat-Silghat axis towards North Assam, Tawang and the rest of Arunachal Pradesh. This can be used for both civilian and strategic purposes.

According to the estimate, the government would spend around Rs 7,000 crore for these tunnels.

The tunnel will take off from about 9 km upstream of the existing Kaliabomara (Tezpur) road bridge and will connect Jakhlabandha railway station on the south bank and at Dhaliabil railway station on the north bank of Brahmaputra.

As per reports, the BRO submitted that these railcum-road tunnels are required from the strategic point of view at a recent meeting. It also suggested that the project may be funded by the defence ministry.

Infrastructure Transport

15 Sep 2025

Cabinet Approves Key Highway and Rail Projects in Bihar Region

The Union Cabinet on Wednesday approved the four-laning of the 84.2-km Mokama-Munger section of the Buxar-Bhagalpur high-speed corridor, a key industrial region in poll-bound Bihar. The Cabinet also sanctioned the doubling of the 177-km Bhagalpur-Dumka-Rampurhat railway line, which passes through Bihar, Jharkhand, and West Bengal, at a cost of Rs 31.7 billion.The Rs 44.5 billion highway project will be constructed under the hybrid annuity model, a variant of public-private partnership. The Mokama-Munger stretch was the only remaining two-lane section of the 363-km Buxar-Bhagalpur corridor. Fou..

NGT Issues Notice on Bengaluru Twin Tunnel Project

The National Green Tribunal (NGT) on Wednesday issued notices in response to a petition filed by Bengaluru Praja Vedike and others, challenging the Bengaluru twin tunnel road project. Petitioners claim the project was “hastily announced” and bypassed mandatory environmental impact assessment procedures.Notices have been served to the Karnataka Government, Greater Bengaluru Authority, State Environment Impact Assessment Authority (SEIAA), Bengaluru Smart Infrastructure Ltd (B-SMILE), the Union Ministry of Environment, Forest and Climate Change, and project consultants.The 16.74-km twin-tube..

India’s Residential Sales to Dip Slightly in FY26

Residential sales in India’s seven major cities are projected to decline by up to 3 per cent year-on-year in FY26 to 620–640 million square feet (msf), amid a moderation in sales velocity, according to ratings agency Icra.In FY25, sales stood at 643 msf, down 8 per cent YoY, following a sharp contraction in new launches and moderated demand in the affordable and mid-income segments. This slowdown came after the sector posted a robust compound annual growth rate of 26 per cent in area sales between FY22 and FY24.Icra noted: “Having seen a strong upcycle, the sector entered an equilibrium ..