As preliminary works for the flyover connecting Dighalipukhuri point with Bamunimaidan area in the city has begun (following which the working space for the city press club in Ambari locality will be drastically reduced), Journalists’ Forum Assam (JFA) urges Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma to initiate a separate arrangement for the benefit of hundreds of Guwahati media workers.

CM Sarma has recently announced that construction works for the longest flyover of Assam (around six kilometers) started and it will be completed by 2026. Expressing hope that the project would ease connectivity significantly, Sarma requested all concerned citizens to support the initiative. The city-based media persons may also come forward cooperating with the government, said JFA president Rupam Barua and Secretary Nava Thakuria.

Mentionable is that the press club, currently functioning from an important archaeological site, will lose the front area to the flyover and it will finally create a major problem for the members & visitors for parking their vehicles during the construction period and even after its completion. Moreover, conscious citizens have been demanding to shift the press club so that the richest Ambari archaeological site can be accommodated for necessary preservation and research works.

Situated in the heart of Kamrup (metro) district, the site has been excavated several times since 1968 to find more archaeological remains. The archaeology department claims that the ruins of Ambari reflect the period of Sunga-Kushana dynasty. Discovered in the course of constructions for the Reserve Bank of India’s office in that locality, the site attracts visitors from different parts of the country every day.

The forum appeals to the concerned individuals to take a pragmatic decision to relocate the press club on the plot of land, which was sanctioned by the government a few months back, so that the growing number of professional journalists associated with newspapers, television channels, radio outlets and digital platforms can have a permanent address. The forum also appeals to everyone to show the commitment to make the Ambari site encroachment-free as early as possible.