Dead end: The stretch of National Highway 37 between Jalukbari and Sat Mile. Picture by Eastern Projections

Sept. 7: The proposed diversion of National Highway 37 between Jalukbari and Sat Mile has run into rough weather, as Gauhati University has refused to allot the required plot of land for the purpose.

The National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) and the PWD have given the requisition of 50 bighas of vacant land of the university to divert the 2km stretch of the highway.

The NHAI and PWD have already submitted the diversion plan to the university but the teachers and staff have expressed opposition to the plan.

“Under the plan, the highway will be diverted from behind the university hostels through the Garigaon area from Sat Mile junction to Jalukbari traffic circle. The university has vacant land, which it must relinquish for the purpose of the diversion of the highway. There will be no alternative to divert the highway if Gauhati University refused to share its lands. Diversion has become very important, as the particular stretch of the highway has become extremely accident-prone,” a PWD official said.

This stretch of the highway is one of the busiest roads in Guwahati as it is the only road connecting the city with Lokapriya Gopinath Bordoloi International Airport at Borjhar.

The general secretary of GU Teachers’ Association, J.C. Kalita, said the highway diversion plan submitted by the PWD and NHAI would divide the university campus into two. Saraighat Colony of the university, which houses a large number of quarters, will be totally secluded because of the diversion, he added.

“Teachers are also not ready to relinquish 50 bighas for the diversion. An institution like Gauhati University has future plans to expand and thus cannot afford to lose out such huge portion of land,” Kalita said.

According to Kalita, instead of diversion, GUTA favours construction of a flyover or elevated road from the Jalukbari point to Sat Mile on NH 37. He said GUTA had already apprised the matter to the vice-chancellor Okhil Kumar Medhi and requested him to discuss the project with the NHAI and PWD.

The Post-Graduate Students’ Union has also expressed opposition to the diversion of NH 37 at the cost of sacrificing 50 bighas of university land. An office-bearer of the PGSU said Gauhati University needed the land for future projects.

An official in Gauhati University administration said the university could not go against the wishes of teachers and students.

On the other hand, an Assam government official said the diversion of NH 37 was the demand raised by the university teachers and students.

“It is unfortunate Gauhati University is now opposing the same project. We will hold a meeting with the university on the matter soon and convince them about sharing its land,” he said.