Chief Minister Sarbananda Sonowal and Finance Minister Himanta Biswa Sarma on Sunday jointly performed Bhumi Pujan to mark the start of construction work of the six-lane bridge over Brahmaputra in Guwahati, of which the foundation was laid by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

The bridge will connect Guwahati and North Guwahati. The length of the bridge will be 1600 metre with six-lane carriageway. The bridge, once it is built, will reduce travel time from south bank to north bank Brahmaputra from 90 minutes to mere 15 minutes.

The bridge will also play a pivotal role in reducing traffic congestion and controlling air pollution. The bridge will drive the growth of Assam State Capital Region which covers around 6,000 sq km area with Guwahati city as the epicentre.

The length of the main bridge is 1240 metreextra-dosed cable type with Y-arm of 360 metre. The starting point of thecorridor will be at Bharalumukh on the south bank of the Brahmaputra. Theculmination point will be at NH-31 near Gauripur Junction on North bank of theBrahmaputra.

Minister Siddhartha Bhattacharya, Jogen Mohan, MPQueen Oja, Chief Secretary Kumar Sanjay Krishna and a host of other dignitarieswere present on the occasion.