State Focus Assam Infrastructure Geography & Disasters Infrastructure & Transport

Behind the Kaziranga pressure in the Assam news: a 33.7 km road and rail route with a tunnel under the Brahmaputra

Background

The protest over a hotel beside Kaziranga, which led to the detention case the Gauhati High Court has just decided, has drawn attention to what is being built around the park. The biggest project cleared in that stretch runs beneath the Brahmaputra. The Cabinet Committee on Economic Affairs has approved a twin-tube tunnel to be bored under the river, with one of the two tubes taking a railway as well as road lanes. In all the project measures 33.7 km. Of that, 15.79 km is the tunnel under the river itself, carrying both road and rail. The route runs from Gohpur on National Highway 15 to Numaligarh on National Highway 715 in Assam. Its total capital cost is Rs 18,662.02 crore, and Kaziranga National Park is one of the tourist nodes on the alignment.

Total length: 33.7 km Tunnel under the river: 15.79 km Route: Gohpur on NH-15 to Numaligarh on NH-715 Capital cost: Rs 18,662.02 crore

Why it matters for exams: The durable facts are that the twin tube underwater tunnel under the Brahmaputra runs from Gohpur on National Highway 15 to Numaligarh on National Highway 715 in Assam, that the project is 33.7 km with a 15.79 km tunnel under the river, and that its capital cost is Rs 18,662.02 crore.

Kerala PSCUPSC

10 November 2026 Source: Press Information Bureau

In plain words

EPC Engineering, Procurement and Construction — A contract mode where one contractor designs, buys materials for and builds the whole project for a fixed price.